Guitarist Jake E. Lee, a former member of Ozzy Osbourne’s band, has given new updates on his condition after he was shot multiple times in Las Vegas earlier this week.
It was early Tuesday morning (October 15) when Lee, 67, was shot three times while he was walking his dog near his home, about 10 miles from the Vegas strip. Police later said they believed Lee was the target, instead saying the incident is now being investigated as a random attack. No arrests have been reported at this time.
At the time, Lee was reported to have been hospitalized and was said to be fully conscious while being treated in the intensive care unit, suggesting recovery was possible.
Now, several hopeful updates from Lee have been made public – one is his first statement since the shooting, and another is from one of his friends in the music industry .
On Wednesday (October 16), former Guns N’ Roses and Sixx:AM guitarist DJ Ashba, a Las Vegas resident like Lee, shared a text exchange between him and Lee as a Sentence. story on Instagram, according to Billboard.
After Ashba asked if he was okay, Lee replied, “Doing surprisingly well. I’m one lucky mom. Just make sure your birthday party is accessible by car.” roll! Just kidding.”
Ashba responded: “Grateful you’re okay! Naha! You got it bro!”
The second update came from Lee himself, his first since the shooting. It was posted on his band Red Dragon Cartel’s Facebook page on Thursday.
Checking. Is this on? It’s been a while since I posted here. Take a look: I appreciate all the interest and well wishes. Makes things go a little better. To clarify, I was shot three times. I…
“I appreciate all the concern and well wishes,” Lee said. “Makes things go a little better. To clarify, I was shot three times. I was on my way home after walking my dog Coco (I didn’t name her so don’t!) Don’t want to go into details now, I’m tired, but I feel relatively lucky.”
He added: “The police found 15 bullet casings at the scene, meaning he pointed the gun at me. I could only dodge that much, so one bullet went through my forearm, one bullet went through my foot, and one bullet went through my foot. shot in the back, breaking ribs.” and damaged one lung. The priority now is to continue suctioning my lungs until he stops crying. We can then pull out that tube and focus on smaller injuries. And by the way, Coco is fine and appreciates your question!
Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Lee was an important figure in Osbourne’s solo career, especially in the mid-1980s. He joined Ozzy’s band as lead guitarist after the death of Randy Rhoads and the guitarist’s brief tenure. guitarist Brad Gillis.
Lee’s style and technical skills helped Ozzy continue to be successful after the tragic loss of Rhoads, and he was instrumental in shaping the sound of Ozzy’s next phase.
After news first emerged that Lee had been shot on Tuesday, Osbourne released a statement, obtained by TMZ, explaining that he was “shocked” about the incident.
“It’s been 37 years since I saw Jake E. Lee, but that still doesn’t lessen the shock of hearing what happened to him today,” Osbourne said.
“It was just another senseless act of gun violence,” the singer continued. “My thoughts are with him and his beautiful daughter Jade. I just hope he’s okay.”
Tags Ozzy Osbourne, Music