Pop star Lady Gaga has offered a massive reward after a gunman shot her dog walker in Hollywood and stole two of her French bulldogs.
US media report the dog-walker was fired upon by a male suspect with a semi-automatic handgun before the assailant took off with the pets Koji and Gustav.
A third bulldog, named Miss Asia, ran away and was later recovered by police.
Los Angeles police officer Drake Madison said the incident happened shortly before 10pm on Wednesday (local time) in Hollywood and the man in his 30s fled in a white vehicle.
Fire department paramedics took the male victim to a local hospital in unknown condition, Mr Madison said.
Gaga, whose recent performances included singing the national anthem at US President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January, has been in Rome filming a new Ridley Scott film, Gucci.
Her three French bulldogs remained in Hollywood, the Daily Mail reported.
Los Angeles Police Captain Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the department’s elite robbery-homicide division, said it was unclear if the dog walker was targeted because of his celebrity client.
Lady Gaga has offered a a $US500,000 ($628,155) reward for the return of her pets “to anyone who has her two dogs, no questions asked”, CNN quoted a source close to the singer as saying.
Gaga’s dogs have accompanied her to the American Music Awards and her 2017 Super Bowl Halftime show.
French bulldogs have become a popular breed in recent years. Puppies fetched about $6000 online in Australia during the pandemic.
In January, a woman in San Francisco was beaten at gunpoint and three men stole her grey French bulldog puppy.
-with agencies
