Granite Falls man sentenced to 17½ years for shooting officer

A Granite Falls man will spend the next several years in prison for shooting an officer earlier this year while law enforcement tried to arrest him.

William Edward Schindler, 26, was sentenced Friday to 17½ years for attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer. He received credit for 88 days already served.

Schindler was initially charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault and one count of possession of ammunition. He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder in exchange for dismissal of the remaining charges, the sentence he received and admitting to probation violations.

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On April 10, 2023, officers and law enforcement from the Granite Falls Police Department attempted a search warrant at a home in Granite Falls in order to try to arrest Schindler, who had multiple felony warrants, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint added that the owner of the house is not Schindler. After knocking, a man opened the door to the house and officers and law enforcement entered and announced “police, search warrant.” Several seconds later, gunfire from the top level of the house began coming at law enforcement.

One law enforcement agent was struck in the lower torso, the complaint states. Law enforcement went back outside and took the man who had answered the door with them.

Over the next hour and a half, law enforcement tried to get Schindler to come out of the house. Another man was in the home with Schindler but he came out at some point during the standoff, according to the complaint.

Schindler eventually exited the home and was taken into custody, officers said.

The complaint noted that a SWAT team surveyed the house after Schindler was taken into custody and found a .40 caliber pistol hidden inside a hole in the wall, as well as .40 caliber casings.

Schindler has a previous conviction for fifth-degree drug possession, which is a felony.