Lindsey Buckingham, the 76-year-old former Fleetwood Mac guitarist behind "Go Your Own Way" and "Never Going Back Again," was reportedly attacked by a woman outside a Santa Monica, California, building on Wednesday. The woman allegedly threw an unknown substance at Buckingham as he arrived for an appointment, then fled the scene.
No arrest had been made as of Wednesday. Buckingham was not believed to be injured. Both the Santa Monica Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating.
Law enforcement sources told NBC4 Investigates that authorities have identified the suspect and described her as a "stalking suspect." Police said Buckingham is familiar with the woman from prior incidents and that she likely learned of his appointment beforehand, allowing her to show up at the location.
The Santa Monica Police Department did not immediately respond to Page Six's request for comment.
The case has drawn the attention of a specialized LAPD division. An LAPD spokesman confirmed the multi-agency response to the New York Post:
"The Los Angeles Police Department's Threat Management Unit is working with the city of Santa Monica to investigate this incident."
The involvement of the Threat Management Unit, a division that handles stalking, threats against public figures, and cases involving fixated individuals, signals that investigators are treating this as more than a random encounter. The fact that authorities say Buckingham already knew the woman from previous incidents only reinforces that concern.
What the unknown substance was has not been disclosed. Whether it posed any chemical danger remains unclear. That Buckingham escaped without apparent injury is fortunate, but the nature of the attack, a targeted ambush at a known appointment, raises serious questions about how the suspect obtained his schedule.
Perhaps the most pressing question: why no arrest? Police have identified the woman. They have described her as a stalking suspect. They say Buckingham has dealt with her before. She allegedly threw a substance at a 76-year-old man and ran.
Yet as of Wednesday, she remained free. Neither police department had issued a public statement explaining the delay. Fox News reported that no arrest had been made at the time of reporting, confirming the same detail carried by multiple outlets.
For anyone who has followed the deterioration of public safety in Los Angeles County, the pattern is familiar. A known suspect. A victim with a documented history of being targeted. An investigation that stretches while the alleged offender walks free. Residents across Southern California, famous or not, have watched this cycle repeat.
Buckingham's case may eventually result in charges. But the gap between identification and accountability is exactly the kind of gap that erodes public trust in law enforcement's ability to protect people from persistent threats.
Buckingham formed his first band with Stevie Nicks in the late 1960s. The two joined Fleetwood Mac at the end of 1974, alongside drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, and keyboardist Christine McVie. The band's self-titled album reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.
Then came "Rumours," released in February 1977, which earned Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards. The record was famously shaped by the personal turmoil within the band, Buckingham and Nicks ended their romantic relationship in 1976, channeling that friction into some of the most commercially successful rock music ever recorded.
Buckingham was removed from Fleetwood Mac in 2018. But he has remained active. Last year, he and Nicks took to Instagram to tease a new project together, which turned out to be a re-release of their 1973 album, "Buckingham Nicks."
At 76, Buckingham is still a public figure with a visible presence, which, in this case, may have made him a target. The "Holiday Road" rocker's appointment in Santa Monica was apparently known to the suspect in advance, a detail that points to surveillance or information access that law enforcement will need to trace.
Several key details remain unresolved. What substance was thrown? What prior incidents connect Buckingham to the suspect? How did she learn his schedule? What specific building in Santa Monica was involved? Has Buckingham or his representative issued any statement?
None of these questions had been publicly answered as of the time of reporting. The Santa Monica Police Department's silence and the absence of any comment from Buckingham's camp leave the public with an incomplete picture.
What is clear is this: a woman law enforcement calls a stalking suspect allegedly targeted a well-known musician at a known location, carried out an attack, and left without being detained. Two police departments are now working the case. The suspect has been identified but remains unarrested.
When the system knows who the threat is and still can't, or won't, act before the next incident, it's the victim who pays the price for that failure.
