When a Wapiti woman got into an armed standoff with law enforcement last summer — allegedly firing a shotgun and yelling obscenities at responding officers — one of her neighbors offered to help resolve the situation. Authorities told Mark Schulz to instead stay out of the way, but the 60-year-old persisted. Court records say Schulz quietly worked his way through a darkened draw to Mary Lindemann’s home and eventually helped bring Lindemann outside.

Park County Sheriff’s deputies then arrested them both: Lindemann on felony counts of aggravated assault and battery and Schulz on a misdemeanor count of interference with a peace officer.

Lindemann has pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial in April, but Schulz pleaded no contest to his interference charge last week.

“It was my stupidity being up there,” Schulz said during a Friday appearance in Park County Circuit Court, “but I thought I was going to do the right thing, and here we are.”

He was placed on probation and ordered to pay $220 to the court.

Multiple shots fired

The incident reportedly started on the night of Aug. 1, when Lindemann allegedly shot toward two people who were walking near her Hawk Drive home. The people ran for shelter and called authorities, who dispatched a team of about a half-dozen officers.

When they arrived at Lindemann’s home, she allegedly fired more gunshots. A deputy testified last fall that she fired a shot over the officers’ heads and another in their direction, even after they identified themselves as law enforcement.

When an officer called out that they just wanted to talk and asked Lindemann to put down the gun, she allegedly yelled back, “F— you!”

While a tactical team was en route, Schulz approached the officers who were staged near Lindemann’s home and indicated that he wanted to help. A deputy told Schulz to go back to the Red Barn gas station, where he might be able to work with the officers there to speak with Lindemann by phone. Schulz left, but then made his way on foot to Lindeman’s house. He brought her out to the porch shortly before the tactical team approached and took them both into custody.

Schulz reportedly said something to the deputies like, “You’d be out here all night if it wasn’t for me.”

He spent the night and a portion of the next day in jail and was then released on a signature bond.

As part of Schulz’s sentence, he received credit for two days of jail time, with another 28 days suspended in favor of six months of unsupervised probation. A $500 fine was also suspended.

‘Trying to do the right thing’

Schulz had no prior criminal history to speak of, said defense attorney Sam Krone, and while Schulz’s conduct was unlawful, “I believe he truly was trying to defuse the situation that was occurring in the Green Creek Area on the North Fork, and was attempting to assist officers in resolving that.”

“... obviously that wasn’t probably the best approach,” Krone said, “but it was done with an intention to try to de-escalate the situation.”

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele didn’t disagree, but noted that Schulz “did so against [a] warning from law enforcement.” That, the prosecutor said, is why he pursued the case.

Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah said he knows Schulz’s intentions were good, but similarly noted that he’d disregarded instructions from the officers on scene.

“When I first saw this, I thought probably you were trying to do the right thing,” Darrah told Schulz, “but you put yourself potentially in harm’s way and made the situation more complicated for law enforcement. And that’s why you got arrested.”

The judge said he’s glad Schulz is alive and appreciated the accountability he took in court.

Contested felony charges

While the Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Schulz with interference for disobeying the officers, it has not charged Lindemann for allegedly shooting at them. At a preliminary hearing last fall, her attorney noted that the officers never displayed their emergency lights or used a bullhorn, suggesting Lindemann didn’t recognize the officers in the dark.

The two pending counts of aggravated assault are tied to the allegations that Lindemann shot at the two walkers. The mother and son told authorities they were just walking down the road around 8:30 p.m. when they saw Lindemann shooting a gun from her porch and turned around. It was while they were walking away that they say Lindemann fired in their direction, with her shot kicking up dirt from the road.

At October’s preliminary hearing, Lindemann’s defense attorney Brigita Krijansons sought to have the charges dismissed. She noted that Lindemann wasn’t reported to have said anything to the pedestrians, that they weren’t sure where she was shooting and that Lindemann had apparently been using a relatively weak .410 bore shotgun (although it had allegedly been loaded with heavier buckshot).

“I can tell you that the testimony regarding any intention to actually cause serious bodily harm to them was pretty much nil,” Krisjansons argued.

When Judge Darrah offered that shooting a gun in the vicinity of another person could imply intent, Krisjansons said that was too big of a leap.

“I think this could be a reckless endangering case,” she said, referring to a lower, misdemeanor charge, “but aggravated assault, you need more than just guesswork.”

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele countered that the evidence indicated “that this was … not a mere mistake, [or that] she didn’t understand what was going on,” as the walkers said Lindemann saw them before shooting. Eichele also noted that the mother and son “were genuinely in fear.”

Darrah ultimately decided there was enough for the charges to advance toward a trial in Park County District Court. He said there was “ample evidence of these people being shot at” and that a jury will need to determine Lindemann’s intent.

A trial is currently set to start on April 6.