Victim shot 16 times during Minneapolis carjacking still recovering 2 years later

It’s been almost two years since Ben Schmid’s life changed after a shooting in south Minneapolis that remains unsolved.

“I ended up getting shot 16 times,” Schmid said. “Now here I am still suffering from that.”

Schmid relies on a wheelchair after one of the bullets when through his spine after an incident in mid-July 2020 on the 3700 block of Elliot Avenue South.

“A man approached me and asked me for my keys — I shouldn’t say asked, demanded my keys. I said, ‘No,’ and tried to fight,” Schmid said.

That’s the extent of what Schmid said he can recall from the incident around midnight when he was going to visit a friend who lives in the area.

Minneapolis police on Thursday told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they have detectives in the Violent Crime Investigative Team working the case. MPD says the case file is more than an inch thick.

“It’s a lot of stress, it’s very, very difficult,” Lydia Mueller, Ben’s wife, said about waiting for a tip for two years.

“I don’t know, the chance of no one seeing that, it’s crazy to me,” Mueller said. “I hope somebody will finally come forward.”

An MPD report said there were no witnesses on the scene.

“After this time since the incident, I think I found purpose,” Schmid said. “I think a lot of that purpose is family, God and being a better man.”

Schmid continues to go through therapy every week, trying to walk again. This Farmington father hopes one day down the road to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

“I work hard to strengthen my legs and do it, I get in a walker and move,” Schmid said. “That’s my goal, I can walker her down the aisle someday and be that man.”