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Wounded Martial Arts Musical Star Has "Mutant" Healing Powers
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 7, 2011
Modified Sep 7, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 7, 2011
Modified Sep 7, 2011
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A former star of '80s martial arts musical The Last Dragon was shot in Harlem during the bloody Labor Day, but he's doing just fine now. Actor Leo O'Brien, who played "Richie Green" in that film and has also appeared on Law & Order, was shot three times on Monday by a friend, and he credits his Wolverine-like healing abilities with saving him: "I was in intensive care but just for one day. I'm a fast healer—kind of a mutant...I've been told if this had happened to someone else, they'd be dead," he told the News.
O'Brien, who has given up acting to run other businesses—including a small music studio, a convenience store in Harlem, and a company that sells magazines door to door—doesn't know why his friend Travis Breckenridge shot him at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and W. 127th Street just before noon on Monday.
O'Brien says Breckenridge approached him on the corner and shot him in the abdomen without warning. At first, he thought it was a BB gun: "The second bullet hit me in the stomach," he said. "I knew then it was a real gun. I tried taking the gun from him...The third bullet hit me in the arm."
During the confrontation, Breckenridge "didn't say anything to me. He started crying and ran away. He was my homeboy. Did we have a problem before he shot me? No. I don't know why he shot me." However, O'Brien does think his friend may have been scared of him: "Maybe he thought I would hurt him?" Below, you can check out some fight scenes from The Last Dragon, and understand why anyone even remotely associated with that movie might seem justifiably terrifying.
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leo o'brien
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martial arts musical
shooting
the last dragon
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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