Episode 372

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

SPEAKER_2 (0:12)

I don't know his life anymore. I am no longer a part of it. He made that perfectly clear when he decided to sleep with my sister.

Mike Boudet (0:35)

On the morning of October 13th, 2021, Jason Schaefer is halfway through his mail delivery route in Longmont, Colorado. It's a more recent subdivision of oversized symmetrical homes, sitting close together on small lots. Much like the rest of America. Jason drives slowly from box to box. He's been at it since early that morning. So after starting his route, Jason stops for a few minutes to see his live-in girlfriend, Rosa, as he frequently does during the day.

Jason's son is at school, Rosa leaves for work, and Jason goes back to his route. It's the same old, same old. Stop the truck, open the door, step out, sort the mail. The door stays open behind him, and the truck beeps at him on and off all day. Jason is close to the mailbox when the first loud pop rings out. There's no time to question what it is, whether it's a car backfiring, a construction hammer, or something else. The force hits his body before realizing what's happening.

There's more.

SPEAKER_4 (1:50)

I'm at 911, address the emergency.

SPEAKER_5 (1:53)

Yes, hi, I'm at 2005 Sicily Circle. I need an ambulance.

SPEAKER_4 (1:59)

Our post office guy was just shot.

SPEAKER_5 (2:01)

I heard four shots, and he's down. There's a fetish there. I'm checking on him right now. I am not.

I can go there.

SPEAKER_4 (2:13)

Okay, yeah, I need to know what happened to him.

Mike Boudet (2:17)

Jason goes down beside the passenger side of his mail truck, his body falling partly into the road, his head near the curb. He's unconscious. Blood gushes from his mouth, and his face is disfigured. A huge deep gash sits above the right eye, and a bullet hole pierces his cheek just under the left eye. Other wounds are visible, too. One on his upper right chest, another on the middle left of his back.

Envelopes are strewn all over the road. The truck is still there, of course, and the door is still open.

The truck's beeping rings through the air in this residential community.

SPEAKER_5 (3:07)

Is he breathing? Yes, he is breathing. He is breathing. Please send an ambulance.

SPEAKER_4 (3:13)

Ma'am, I am sending them. I need you to answer the questions that I have. Where is he bleeding from?

He was in a black hoodie, and he ran that way. Ma'am, where is he bleeding from?

SPEAKER_5 (3:28)

He's bleeding out of his mouth.

SPEAKER_6 (3:31)

Okay. He's bleeding out of his mouth.

SPEAKER_5 (3:36)

He was shot. Can you guys tell where he was shot? Can you tell where he was shot? Did anyone witness this?

I don't know if anybody saw exactly. We saw someone run. We heard four shots.

SPEAKER_6 (3:54)

Okay. Which way did the person run?

SPEAKER_4 (3:56)

Four shots in the guy room.

SPEAKER_5 (3:58)

Um, down Renaissance.

Mike Boudet (4:01)

Witnesses at the scene are still trying to figure out what happened, and if this guy is going to make it. But they also describe seeing another man flee the scene.

SPEAKER_5 (4:11)

Okay.

SPEAKER_4 (4:12)

What was that person wearing?

SPEAKER_5 (4:14)

A hoodie.

SPEAKER_4 (4:16)

Blue mask.

SPEAKER_5 (4:22)

I couldn't identify him. I just saw backside of a man running away after four shots.

SPEAKER_4 (4:29)

Is he conscious? Is he breathing? Does somebody have pressure on a wound? Can we find a wound?

SPEAKER_5 (4:39)

I'm honestly afraid to touch him.

SPEAKER_4 (4:42)

Okay. If he is injured and he's been shot, somebody needs to touch him because we need to know what's going on.

SPEAKER_5 (4:48)

I don't think he's breathing anymore.

SPEAKER_4 (4:51)

Okay. We're going to need to do CPR if he's not breathing. Are you outside?

SPEAKER_5 (4:57)

I am.

SPEAKER_4 (4:58)

Are you able to do CPR? Can I talk to somebody who is willing to do CPR?

SPEAKER_5 (5:03)

Can everybody do CPR on him?

Oh, gosh. Um, there's only me and my neighbor, and I don't think he's breathing anymore.

SPEAKER_4 (5:16)

Okay. Is there anyone there who is going to do CPR? I know it doesn't seem like he's breathing, but I need somebody to get close enough to him to confirm that for me, and then to do CPR if that is the case.

SPEAKER_5 (5:32)

I don't know what to tell you. I need help.

SPEAKER_4 (5:35)

I understand that man. Is there anyone else there with you who is the person that you were talking to?