LA Times is investigating its Tupac report

LOS ANGELES, March 26 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Times said on its Web site Wednesday it plans to investigate the validity of documents cited in its recent controversial Tupac Shakur report.

The announcement came after The Smoking Gun Web site said a source for the Times piece about the 1994 shooting of Shakur had fabricated documents to back up his story.

The Times last week ran a story claiming the non-fatal shooting of the rapper in New York was carried out by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs. The report suggested Combs was aware of the plot beforehand, an allegation Combs swiftly denied.

However, The Smoking Gun said Wednesday the article was based largely on fabricated FBI reports.

The Web site claimed the Times was essentially duped by James Sabatino, a delusional, imprisoned scam artist and document forger, who claims he conducted business with rap icons like Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes and The Notorious B.I.G.

The Smoking Gun said Sabatino was in reality little more than a rap fan from Florida whose father once described him in a letter to a U.S. judge as "a disturbed young man who needed attention like a drug."

Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996, a homicide that remains unsolved.