Ryan Fischer, Lady Gaga‘s friend and dog walker, is expected to make a full recovery after being shot Wednesday evening (24 February), his family said.
As Fischer, 30, strolled along Sierra Bonita Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, two people got out of a white car and demanded he hand Gaga’s three French bulldogs over.
Wielding what police said was a semiautomatic handgun, the individuals snatched two dogs, Koji and Gustav, beating Fischer to the ground and shooting him in the chest.
In a statement to TMZ, Fischer’s family sought to praise first responders for treating Fischer, who found the 30-year-old cradling Gaga’s third dog, Miss Asia, in his arms as they tended to his wounds.
“Thankfully, Ryan is receiving extraordinary care in the hospital right now and his doctors expect him to make a full recovery,” they said in the statement issued Friday (26 February).
“We cannot possibly say enough to thank all of the first responders, nurses, and doctors who have worked so tirelessly to care for Ryan.”
“Of course, we also want to thank Lady Gaga who has shown nothing but non-stop love and concern for Ryan and our family right from the outset,” they added.
“Ryan loves Gustavo and Koji as much as Lady Gaga does; so we join in her plea for their safe return.”
While Fischer’s former client and friend, Doctor Fred Pescatore, told PEOPLE that Fischer was breathing on his own at hospital.
“There’s nothing negative about that man,” he said of the Fischer.
“I continue to love you, Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family,” Lady Gaga wrote in an Instagram post. “You’re forever a hero.”
Ryan Fisher in ‘stable condition’, police say, as dogs are reunited with Lady Gaga
Fischer is in a “stable condition” with “non-life-threatening” injuries, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed in a tweet, adding that the dogs have since been located.
The French bulldogs had been dropped off at a police station by an unnamed civilian, the force said. Representatives of the hitmaker collected the pair later that day.
The civilian who returned the dogs, as well as the location where they were found, is to remain “confidential”, the force said, “due to active criminal investigation”.
“LAPD Robbery Homicide Detectives will continue to investigate to ensure the persons responsible are ultimately arrested and brought before justice.”
According to the Associated Press, captain Jonathan Tippett said that the woman who took the dogs to the station was “uninvolved and unassociated” with the attack.
Tippett, the commanding officer of the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division, added: “I can confirm that the dogs have been located and are safe.”