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Man jailed after boy shot in neck during fireworks

The St. Paul man was upset over amateur fireworks near his home, police said. The boy is expected to survive.

By KARLEE WEINMANN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 5, 2009 - 11:06 PM

The four young people had planned to spend Saturday's clear, warm July 4th evening the traditional way. They strolled through a St. Paul neighborhood lit up by fireworks.

About 9 p.m., they were walking in the area of E. Belvidere Street and Oakdale Avenue when one, a 14-year-old boy from West St. Paul, grabbed at a sudden, sharp pain in his neck. Blood was flowing, and he and his companions assumed that a wayward firecracker set off nearby had grazed him.

But when medics arrived, an examination of the boy's injury revealed that the celebratory pops and booms had masked the sound of a gunshot.

"There was a lot of fireworks, then the 14-year-old just clutched his neck and noticed he was bleeding," said St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell. "Nobody knew there was a shooting going on."

On Sunday night, Cary Francis Schmidt, a 49-year-old neighborhood resident, was in the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault in the boy's shooting. Police say Schmidt apparently got so upset about amateur fireworks going off in his neighborhood that he fired the bullet that struck the boy.

The boy, who was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, is expected to survive. The Star Tribune is not naming him because his family asked for privacy and because police cited ongoing concerns for his safety.

"We've got a crazy guy who ... shot people he didn't know in the middle of the street," Schnell said Sunday evening.

Public records show that Schmidt has twice been convicted of drunken driving.

Police recovered what Schnell called "strong evidence" pointing to Schmidt as the shooter, including "weapons that are being looked at as the possible weapon used in the shooting."

A canvass of the neighborhood led police to Schmidt, who lives in the 200 block of E. Belvidere Street, where he was arrested without incident early Sunday. Investigators plan to present their evidence to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office early today for possible charges, Schnell said.

The boy had been visiting family members in the area, a relative said Sunday night.

Karlee Weinmann • 612-673-7278

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