Jake E. Lee Was Actually 'Lucky' With Multiple Gunshot Wounds

11-05-2025

Former Ozzy Osbourne and Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee says that he was lucky with my aspects with the shooting that he suffered near his home in Las Vegas last year while walking his dog.

Lee spoke about the incident to Chris Jericho for the wrestling legends' "Talk Is Jericho" podcast and explained just how lucky he was. "Getting shot was unlucky, but everything about it ended up being lucky.

"The one in the forearm was through and through, but it didn't hit any veins. It didn't hit the bone. It just went through the muscle [and] didn't tear it up or anything. So that healed pretty quickly. So that was lucky. Because the back of my hand was numb for about three weeks, which was just weird. But that came back. [Explaining that the wound in the back was very close to his spine]."

"It's funny because when the cops showed up, they pulled my shirt up and they said, 'Can you move your legs?' I went, 'Yeah.' And then paramedics showed up. 'Can you move your legs?' 'Yeah.' I get to the ER , and the doctor says, 'Can you move your legs?' I went, 'Yeah. Ever since I was a baby. What's the big deal? Why does everybody keep asking me that?' Because I didn't know. I didn't know until I got home from the hospital. My daughter was redressing the wound.

"She went, 'Oh, my god, dad.' I was, like, 'You take a photo and show me so I could see what the big fuss.' And I went, 'Oh, God.' It was so close to the spine. But it didn't. It broke a couple of ribs, punctured my lung, but that's all healable. So that was lucky.

"And then the one in the foot came in at the heel, and the doctor said it would've gone all the way through and probably blown a couple toes off, but I have a titanium heel, because I had shattered it, like, 18 years earlier. So, it was titanium. So, the bullet hit the titanium, ricocheted up and so I have all my toes. All of that's lucky.

"That night I had my phone in my shirt pocket, which I never do. I always put it in my pants' pocket. That night, for whatever reason, I put it in my shirt pocket. I fell on the ground and I realized, 'Ah, I can't really move.' I went, 'Oh, my phone's right here. So, I was able to call 911.' So, yeah, a bunch of lucky things happened, other than getting shot." Watch the full episode below: