Former Ozzy Osbourne and Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee has described the 2024 Las Vegas shooting that left him with three gunshot wounds as a case of profound luck amid misfortune. Speaking on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Lee detailed how a series of fortunate outcomes prevented more severe or permanent damage during the random attack, which occurred while he was walking his dog near his home.
“Getting shot was unlucky, but everything about it ended up being lucky,” Lee told Jericho.
He explained that a bullet passed cleanly through his forearm without striking bone, veins, or causing extensive muscle damage, allowing for a swift recovery. Another round struck his back perilously close to his spine—later revealed to him by his daughter while changing bandages—but missed critical structures, fracturing only a few ribs and puncturing a lung, injuries he described as “all healable.”
A third bullet entered his foot at the heel. Due to a prior injury requiring a titanium implant 18 years earlier, the round ricocheted off the metal, preserving his toes. “The doctor said it would’ve gone all the way through and probably blown a couple toes off,” Lee recalled. “But it hit the titanium… so I have all my toes. All of that’s lucky.”
In another stroke of fortune, Lee had unusually placed his phone in his shirt pocket that night instead of his pants. After collapsing, he was able to reach it immediately and call 911.
Despite the trauma, Lee expressed gratitude for the outcome. “A bunch of lucky things happened, other than getting shot,” he concluded.
The incident, which made headlines in 2024, saw multiple suspects later arrested. Lee has since returned to performing, including a celebrated appearance at Ozzy Osbourne’s final concert, Back to the Beginning, in July 2025.
