Anderson Man Shot by Redding Police in March is now in Shasta County Custody

David Schaeffer, the Anderson man who survived at least one gunshot wound to the jaw after RPD officers fired into his car last month, is now in custody at the Shasta County jail.

While Schaeffer was shot by Redding police, he was never actually arrested. That helps explain how he managed to walk away from a Sacramento-area hospital earlier this month before being picked up by police in Reno, Nevada, on April 10 and placed in custody at the Washoe County Jail on fugitive charges.

After the March 26 shooting, Schaeffer was transferred from a local hospital to a Sacramento-area hospital to receive treatment before being released. According to the American Hospital Association’s guidelines on releasing patient information to law enforcement, hospital staff may disclose certain information in response to a court ordered warrant.

While a warrant to arrest Schaeffer on charges of possession of controlled substance for sale was issued on March 25, RPD says the department was not contacted by hospital staff when Schaeffer was discharged, a few weeks after being shot.

Another warrant for his arrest was issued on April 10, the same day Reno Police apprehended him. After being arrested in Reno, Schaeffer faced an extradition hearing on April 17 at the Reno Justice Court, which resulted in an 11 day deadline for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office to pick him up. He’s now in Shasta County custody.

This is not the first time Schaeffer has been extradited from Washoe County while held on fugitive charges. The first was in 2019. Days after his extradition hearing that time, the Shasta County District Attorney filed multiple charges against Schaeffer, who was eventually found guilty of one felony count of corporal injury to his spouse. He was sentenced to four years.

Why Wasn’t Schaeffer Arrested Last Month? 

On the day he was shot, Schaeffer was being contacted by law enforcement in connection with an active warrant for his arrest related to allegedly possessing drugs for sale. Officers fired through the window of his vehicle as he sat in the parking lot of the Safeway near Cypress and Churn Creek. 

But Schaeffer was never actually arrested that day. RPD Chief Brian Barner said the decision not to arrest Schaeffer after he was injured by police gunfire was related to cost-savings. Essentially, once an individual is arrested, the County foots the bill for their medical care. That individual also requires law enforcement supervision while in custody – even at the hospital – another expense. 

“Agencies will use discretion,” Barner wrote by email, “on whether to arrest someone needing long term medical care/surgery. This alleviates the agency from paying the medical bills and the staffing required for security (which could be weeks in some instances).”

In this case, Schaeffer’s need for medical care was the direct result of being shot by the same law enforcement agency that opted to save money on his treatment by not arresting him afterwards. 

Schaeffer is now being charged with assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon (the vehicle he drove that day); evading a police officer with wanton disregard; two counts of possession of a controlled substance with prior convictions; possession of a controlled substance for sale; violating his probation by virtue of being rearrested; and reckless driving on the freeway. 

Whether or not these charges will lead to convictions will be determined in court, and will likely be informed by body camera footage of the officer who shot Schaeffer. Neither the name of that officer, nor the body camera footage, has so far been released. Schaeffer’s first plea disposition is scheduled for the morning of April 29. 

It has been four weeks since the police used lethal force against Schaeffer. Under California law, RPD has a 45 day deadline from the incident to publicly release body camera footage of the encounter. That deadline is approaching in mid May. 

After the last police shooting in May 2024, RPD took more than three weeks to release a heavily edited video account of the shooting. In that case, there was no body camera footage from the point of view of the shooting officer, because the camera was left in sleep mode. 

The District Attorney’s office, which is tasked with the role of investigating whether RPD’s shooting of Schaeffer was legal, is also prosecuting Schaeffer for his use of deadly force against the officer who shot him.

While no review of the legality of the police shooting has been released, the DA’s Office has already made definitive statements of alleged fact about Schaeffer, saying that after he was verbally confronted, he drove his car toward an officer in a way that threatened their life – prompting police to open fire.

Eye witnesses on the scene have attested that they did not hear officers announce themselves before shooting into Schaeffer’s vehicle.

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