Lady Gaga's Dogwalker Recounts Scary Experience of Protecting Her Pets From Dognappers

Lady Gaga's dogwalker described his harrowing experience when he was shot and nearly killed in a failed attempt to steal the entertainer's three prized dogs last year.

According to a transcript of grand jury testimony from last October obtained by Rolling Stone, Ryan Fischer was at first "confused" when the three men now charged with the crime allegedly demanded at gunpoint that Fischer surrender Asia, Gustav, and Koji. He quickly realized the seriousness of the situation and put up a good fight after he was thrown to the cement, hitting one of the attackers with a bottle of champagne and freeing himself before he was shot in the chest while lunging to protect Koji.

"The dog screamed at me, and I reached for him, and then the guy, the man with the gun, shot me as I was reaching," Fischer testified according to the unsealed transcript. Fischer said he collapsed on the ground as his assailants fled the scene with Gustav and Koji in a white Nissan Sentra.

He described how he collapsed to the ground and tried to call for help, but couldn't because of the bullet that ripped through his lung.

"I immediately tried to call for help but realized I was bleeding out of my lung and that I was losing more and more air quickly," Fischer testified. "And the other dog, Asia, came to, came to my side, and I tried to project as much as possible in a calm manner to get people out of their houses to ask for help."

Fischer also told grand jurors he lost the "top third" of his lung and had "the bottom portion" removed as well. He testified he still has "issues" breathing, numbness in his chest, and regular rounds of painful physical therapy to remove scar tissue that might further damage his nervous system. Fischer testified that even standing was difficult.

"When I go from the ground up to stand, I have to, I still get very close to passing out," he testified. "So I have to take a moment with that."

James Jackson, 19, is the alleged shooter and has been charged with attempted murder. His alleged accomplices Jaylin White, 20, and Lafayette Whaley, 28, have also been charged with the same crime. Harold White, Jaylin's father, and his girlfriend Jennifer McBride have been charged as accessories. The dogs were later returned unharmed to police by McBride after she claimed to have found the two dogs tied to a pole.

Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee, in her opening statement, told grand jurors the case was not about Lady Gaga but about three young men wanting to steal a valuable breed of dog.

"There is no evidence that you will hear that suggests the suspects knew these dogs belonged to Lady Gaga," Hanisee said. "All the evidence indicates that they were targeting French bulldogs due to the value of the breed and the desire to own that particular breed."

Fischer answered "I am" when asked if he was "a longtime friend of the pop singer Lady Gaga" according to the transcript, and he had earlier said his friend had done whatever necessary to aid in his recovery.

"She's been a friend for me," Fischer told Gayle King of CBS last year. "After I was attacked, my family was flown out, and I had trauma therapists flown to me. I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me."

As part of the recovery process, Fischer took to the road on a recovery trip that was partly funded via a GoFundMe page.

The trials of the defendants are scheduled to continue next month, although the judge in the case had to issue an "extraction order" after Whaley refused to leave his cell to appear at a scheduled hearing.

RELATED | Lady Gaga Says She Was Left 'Pregnant on a Corner' After Being Raped