In a bombshell social media update that has sent shockwaves through the rock community, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has disclosed harrowing new facts about the near-fatal shooting that left him fighting for his life nearly a year ago. The 68-year-old shredding icon, best known for his blistering riffs on Osbourne’s platinum-selling albums Bark at the Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986), revealed that the weapon used in the attack was linked to two prior murders – turning what was already a tale of survival into a full-blown true-crime saga.
Lee, who was ambushed in the early hours of October 15, 2024, while walking his beloved dog Coco near his Las Vegas home, shared the update in a candid Facebook post on his Red Dragon Cartel page. “The two that shot me have been caught and face sentencing next month,” Lee wrote, his words laced with a mix of relief and dark humor. “The gun was tied to two previous murders so my case is almost an afterthought. They’re going bye bye for a long time.” The post, which included a heartwarming photo of a fully recovered Coco – the unsung hero of the ordeal – quickly amassed thousands of shares, likes, and comments from fans, fellow musicians, and true-crime enthusiasts alike.
The incident unfolded around 2:40 a.m. in the quiet Rocky View neighborhood, about 10 miles south of the Las Vegas Strip. Lee, out for a routine late-night stroll with Coco (a name he insists he didn’t choose, quipping in an earlier post, “I didn’t name him so don’t!”), spotted two shadowy figures – dressed in black hoodies pulled low over their faces and masks covering their mouths – tampering with a neighbor’s motorcycle in a nearby driveway. What began as a tense verbal confrontation ended with an uneasy agreement: Lee and Coco would head one way, the suspects the other. But as Lee later recounted in a Thanksgiving 2024 post, the truce shattered violently about 50 feet away.
“I heard the shots,” Lee wrote in November 2024, piecing together the chaos for the first time publicly. “I quickly realized he wasn’t aiming at me. He was aiming at my dog! I threw my end of the leash at Coco and yelled to go home. He did. He’s a good boy.” In a split-second act of heroism, Lee shielded his four-legged companion, absorbing three bullets himself from a barrage of 15 shots – the gunman emptying his clip in a hail of gunfire that left 15 shell casings scattered at the scene. One round tore through his left forearm, just an inch below the elbow, feeling like “a quick burning sensation” rather than agony. Another pierced his foot, and the third struck his back, shattering a rib and puncturing a lung – miraculously missing his spine by millimeters, a near-miss that could have left him paralyzed.
Rushed to Sunrise Hospital’s intensive care unit, Lee spent days in critical condition, his daughter Jade by his side as nurses marveled at how close the back wound had come to catastrophe. “Over the next couple days whenever a nurse was redressing my wounds I would hear about how close the bullet was to my spine,” he later shared. “Finally… my daughter Jade… said ‘oh my god Dad’. So I asked her to take a photo… Oh. Yeah. I see. How did that not actually hit my spine?” Despite the trauma, Lee’s fretting arm – the lifeline of his legendary guitar work – escaped with minimal long-term damage, allowing him to regain full sensation and mobility. Coco, unscathed and “appreciating your inquiries,” became a symbol of resilience, with Lee frequently posting updates featuring the loyal pup to thank fans for their outpouring of support.
News of the arrests and the murder-linked gun first broke in late June 2025, when Lee casually dropped the bombshell amid excitement for his upcoming performance at Black Sabbath’s farewell show in Birmingham, England, on July 5 – a gig he confirmed with trademark enthusiasm: “Just confirming I’m playing… which means Coco has to be up at 7:00am to watch Pops!” Directed by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the event marked Osbourne’s final performance, and Lee – who hadn’t spoken to the Prince of Darkness in decades – jumped at the chance to reunite onstage with his former bandmates. “It’s a thrill to be a part of it,” Lee told Guitar World at the time.
The revelation has reignited discussions about gun violence in America, echoing Osbourne’s immediate reaction to the shooting last October: “It’s been 37 years since I’ve seen Jake E. Lee, but that still doesn’t take away from the shock… It’s just another senseless act of gun violence. I send my thoughts to him and his beautiful daughter, Jade.” Fellow rockers, including Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis (another Osbourne alum), echoed the sentiment, with Gillis posting on X: “I just heard about Jake E Lee. Glad to hear he is doing well.”
As sentencing looms – originally slated for July but delayed amid the broader investigation – Lee remains defiant and grateful. From his “self-imposed exile” after leaving Osbourne’s band in 1987 to fronting Badlands and Red Dragon Cartel, the Pittsburgh-born virtuoso has always embodied metal’s unbreakable spirit. Now, with justice on the horizon and his six-string prowess intact, Lee is eyeing a return to the stage, proving once again that some riffs – and some lives – are too legendary to silence.
