Lady Gaga dog walker shooting suspect accidentally released from jail after 'clerical error'

A suspect in custody for attempted murder after his alleged involvement in the February 2021 shooting of Lady Gaga's dog walker and theft of two of her French bulldogs was accidentally freed from jail this week, EW has confirmed.

A representative for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tells EW in a statement that it is investigating the "inadvertent release" of the defendant in the case, 19-year-old James Howard Jackson, who attended court proceedings at Clara Shortridge Criminal Justice Center on Tuesday before being released on Wednesday. The LASD cites a "clerical error" as the reason for the mishap.

"The investigation is continuing, and the LASD Major Crimes Bureau is actively working to get Mr. Jackson back in custody," the statement continues, urging anyone with information on his whereabouts to call 213-229-1850 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers line at 800-222-TIPS.

MPI67/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Ryan Fischer/Instagram Lady Gaga and her dog walker, Ryan Fischer

In a pair of Instagram Stories posted Thursday, the singer's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, shared images of headlines reporting Jackson's release, captioning the photos with "Lord, grant me the serenity" and "deep breaths."

Fischer posted a longer statement on Instagram on Friday, writing: "While I'm deeply concerned at the events that led to his release, I'm confident law enforcement will rectify the error. I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time."

EW has reached out to Fischer and representatives for Gaga for comment.

Though Gaga's dogs, Koji and Gustav, were returned shortly after the incident, an investigation ultimately led to the arrest of five suspects on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder — including the 50-year-old woman who reportedly safely brought the animals to police.

After the attack, Gaga offered a $500,000 reward for the return of the dogs and released a statement praising Fischer: "I continue to love you, Ryan Fischer. You risked your life to fight for our family," she said at the time. "You're forever a hero."

EW learned through a source close to the situation that Gaga covered Fischer's medical bills related to the shooting, totaling roughly $100,000.

In a subsequent interview with CBS This Morning, Fischer — who embarked on a cross-country journey of healing documented on his Instagram page — discussed the singer's support during his recovery from his injuries, particularly a gunshot wound to the neck. He also recounted his harrowing ordeal in the hospital on the night of the shooting.

"When they put the chest tube in, all of this blood just spurted out on the doctor next to me and everyone's faces just dropped. I heard my blood pressure drop," he said. "The people in the E.R. who I'd seen that night told me that they didn't think I was going to survive that night."

Watch Fischer discuss his experience in the interview above.

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