On Wednesday, the man suspected of shooting Lady Gaga's dog walker during a robbery was wrongly released from custody, and police are now looking for him.
James Howard Jackson, 19, was released Wednesday "due to a clerical error," according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Calling Jackson’s release “inadvertent,” the statement says, “The investigation is continuing and the LASD Major Crimes Bureau is actively working to get Mr. Jackson back in custody."
Jackson is suspected of shooting Ryan Fischer when he was walking Gaga's three French bulldogs on February 24, 2021. He and two other suspects are accused of fleeing in a car with two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav, albeit the pups were safely returned to police two days later.
Five individuals were detained in the case last April, including Jackson. Jackson faces charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and a felon in possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
He did not have an attorney or enter a plea to the allegations, according to jail records.
Gaga, 36, issued a statement shortly after the shooting, calling Fischer a "hero" and requesting information on the location of her stolen dogs.
Fischer sustained a collapsed lung and was gravely injured during the attack. After the attack, he made an impassioned Instagram post about confronting his mortality.
"In the hospital, my lung collapsed again despite the chest tube poking at my insides," he wrote. "And then it collapsed again. And again. It became quite clear that my lung was not healing, and the bullet wound had scarred my tissue like a burn. It could take months, if ever, for the hole to seal."
Fischer's wallet was not taken during the theft, and officials believe the perpetrators targeted Fischer because of the French bulldogs' high value; dog experts claim that French bulldogs are among the most popular dog breeds and are easy to steal because of their small size.
Fisher talked about the incident last September with CBS' Gayle King on CBS Mornings, "I think they just saw a guy with three French bulldogs."
He further said, "The one thing I've noticed in L.A. while walking the dogs is people would say out of the cars, 'How much are those dogs worth?' Like, 'How much are they? Can I buy them?' And that part was always surprising — the viewing of the dog as a commodity."
Fischer also mentioned Lady Gaga, expressing his gratitude for her unwavering support as he continues his recuperation.
"She's helped me so much," he claimed. "She's been a friend for me and after I was attacked, my family was flown out and I had trauma therapists flown to me and I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me."
