Chaka Zulu, supervisor of Ludacris, allegedly defending himself whereas taking pictures

Ludacris‘ manager, Chaka Zulufeared for his life, and actually fired back, allegedly in self-defense, in the Atlanta shooting that left music fans in critical condition.

We spoke to multiple sources who viewed surveillance footage recorded Sunday outside the APT 4B restaurant. We told Chaka, his daughter, and another friend who were leaving an event, walking through the parking lot when Chaka was approached by another man.

Our sources say that, in the video, Chaka and the other man start exchanging words, but things escalated and the conversation became more intense visually… all the while. The other man allegedly held his hand and wrapped it around his waist.

We are told at one point, a woman by the side pushed the other man away from Chaka, but he didn’t back down… and then things got really tense when Chaka approached her. man again, who seems to stab Chaka with his chest, and Chaka grabs the man by the collar.

From there, our sources said, a group of about three or four other men – who had been standing in the parking lot with the man confronting Chaka – joined, rushed in and knocked Chaka to the ground. with a punch. with kicks and stomps.

We told one guy in the group to go between 2 cars, make a gun and fire at least 2 shots. Our sources said Chaka, who was also armed, could then be seen getting up and firing at least one shot in response.

TMZ gets the impression 911 call from the scenewhere a man claiming to be a restaurant security works to help Chaka… who suffered a gunshot wound during the exchange.

A source close to Chaka tells us he was shot at least once – the bullet was close to his heart – and that he is currently in a critical condition.

As to what started the verbal conflict…we say it’s not clear, though it could be some sort of dispute about men not being allowed to join a party.