A 37-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting a motorcyclist in Tacoma in retaliation for a fight that happened the week prior to the homicide.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Shane Joseph Freeman with first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the July 20 shooting of 21-year-old Aidan Schmidt.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Freeman’s behalf during his arraignment on Monday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Philip Thornton set Freeman’s bail at $1.5 million.
Charging details
Tacoma police officers were dispatched at 1:21 a.m. to the Scott Pierson Trail near the 1900 block of South Mullen Street for a report that someone had been shot. Police learned that Schmidt was shot while riding his motorcycle on the trail, according to charging documents.
Schmidt was lying on his back on a small embankment, prosecutors wrote. He was shot multiple times in the chest. Live-saving measures were attempted, but Tacoma Fire personnel declared Schmidt dead at the scene.
Prosecutors wrote that multiple people saw the shooting. They said that an individual who went by the nickname “K2” took Schmidt’s motorcycle, walked it up the trail and placed it away from where the shooting occurred. Officers recovered the motorcycle north of South 19th Street.
A witness said there were two unhoused individuals who would regularly “terrorize” other transient people. It was alleged they were involved in Schmidt’s killing, prosecutors wrote. One of the men was later identified as Freeman, who allegedly goes by the nickname “Shaggy.”
The witness said that Freeman “was beat up” by Schmidt a week earlier. The witnesses believed that Schmidt was killed in retaliation for that incident, documents show.
Detectives learned through Schmidt’s phone that he sent a text three days before the shooting saying, “I have a gun to protect myself,” and, “Because Shaggy will shoot me on sight,” prosecutors wrote.
A woman who is a “known associate of the transient population” spoke to detectives on Oct. 3 and confirmed she was familiar with Schmidt and the people in the area. The woman said Freeman told her he was allegedly the one who shot Schmidt, prosecutors wrote.
Freeman allegedly told her he was under a tunnel and heard Schmidt arriving on his motorcycle. He allegedly shot Schmidt before the victim could take out his firearm, prosecutors wrote. The woman confirmed that Schmidt and Freeman had a history of disturbances.
Detectives arrested Freeman on Oct. 4 in a tent in the North End of Tacoma. Detectives found a loaded 9 mm handgun thought to be the murder weapon inside the tent, prosecutors wrote.
Freeman allegedly said that he does not carry a gun and denied being in the area when Schmidt was killed. He also denied any involvement in the murder, prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors wrote that Freeman has a criminal history, which includes a conviction for second-degree burglary, which prohibits from owning or possessing a firearm.
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