Don Lemon reveals chilling close call with Rihanna shooting incident

Don Lemon revealed that he was supposed to be in Rihanna's neighborhood on the night there was a shooting at the singer's home. 

The journalist, 60, discussed the close call at the 12th Annual Better Brothers Los Angeles Truth Awards on Saturday, telling TMZ that it was pure luck he avoided the frightening incident. 

Rihanna's Beverly Hills home was targeted in a shooting earlier this month while she and her family were inside. The woman accused of committing the shooting was later hit with 14 charges, including attempted murder. 

'I'm glad that Rihanna is okay after that crazy s**t happened at her house,' Lemon said at the event.

'Probably no one knows this, but I have a friend that lives very near Rihanna and I could have been there, because I was here in LA and we were supposed to stay with that friend. And it was frightening. And the friend had like damage to her house.' 

'It's really scary,' he added, explaining that he skipped visiting his friend because the Los Angeles marathon made it impossible to get a car, so he went straight to the airport instead. 

'It's so random. And I know it's a cliche but life is really precious and you never know, so you need to celebrate every single day,' he concluded.

In a press conference on March 10, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced that the alleged shooter, Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, was charged with one count of attempted murder, ten counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, and three counts of shooting into an inhabited dwelling or camper.

Hochman said the 35-year-old woman could face up to life in state prison if convicted of the crimes.

Although Rihanna's partner A$AP Rocky (real name: Rakim Mayers) was previously reported to have not been home at the time of the shooting, the LA DA stated in the press conference that Rihanna, 38, and Rocky, 37, had been in an airstream trailer on her property when Ortiz allegedly opened fire.

According to Hochman, Ortiz was charged with three counts of shooting into an inhabited dwelling because Rihanna's property includes two dwellings, while Ortiz allegedly also shot at a neighbor's home.

The DA said the 10 counts of assault were for each person allegedly in the line of fire from Ortiz.

He said Rihanna, Rocky, their three children — sons RZA, three; Riot, two; and daughter Rocki, five months — and her mother had been on her property at the time of the shooting, along with two staff members.

Two other individuals were also in the neighboring residence that Ortiz allegedly fired on.

Although no one was injured in the shooting, a law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times that Rihanna and Rocky 'easily could have been hit.' 

Ortiz's arraignment is set for March 26. 

The Los Angeles DA announced in his press conference that Judge Theresa McGonigle had set Ortiz's bail at $1,875,000.

In the event that she should make bail, Ortiz was also ordered to stay away from Rihanna and Rocky.

In addition to issuing the protective order, Judge McGonigle ordered Ortiz to surrender all of her firearms.

Jim McDonnell, chief of the LAPD, said during a crime briefing earlier this month that the motive for the shooting has not been established, but the investigation by the LAPD’s Robbery–Homicide Division is ongoing. 

Ortiz has previously shared messages online directly targeting Rihanna, the Daily Mail has revealed. 

She shared seething posts criticizing the hitmaker on Facebook, including one in which she suggested Rihanna had spoken negatively about her, though no connection between the women has been established. 

She also shared videos in which she discussed Rihanna's death and made disturbing threats toward the singer. 

The Daily Mail has also revealed that Ortiz was previously arrested for domestic violence, careless driving and violating pretrial release conditions in Florida. 

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Lemon shared a selfie with Rihanna while celebrating his 60th birthday.

'Birthday hijinks with my girl Rihanna,' he captioned the photo, setting it to her 2011 hit Birthday Cake.

The former CNN star is still facing legal trouble after being charged over his involvement in a January protest at a St. Paul church, where demonstrators disrupted a service. Lemon has pleaded not guilty. 

The protest had been against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations then occurring in the Twin Cities. One of the pastors is an official with the local ICE field office.