Shooting victim still looking for answers four months after being shot

Four months after being shot, a man in Colorado Springs is still looking for answers.

Michael Schaefer went to a friend’s house, identified in a police report as Jennifer Krejci, on the morning of July 24th, 2018, when she asked for help.

Krejci sent text messages to Schaeffer indicating a man had “put [his] hands on me.”

Schaefer said he rushed over to find Krejci sitting on the porch of her house near Spruce Street and I-25. What he didn’t know is when he’d walk into the backyard to find the person responsible for hurting Krejci, he would be shot.

“I saw a shadow of a pistol…and then a white flash and I couldn’t see anymore,” Schaefer said.

The man responsible hasn’t been found.

The police report identifies the suspect as a man named Gilbert, described as tall and dark skinned. Colorado Springs Police could not confirm if there was an active arrest warrant for him.

Schaefer says he was shot with 410 birdshot. The pellets inside sprayed into his lungs, heart, and both eyes. Doctors were able to recover most of them and recover some of Schaefer’s eyesight.

He’s undergone four surgeries and is now waiting to be fitted with eyewear. While on his way to recovery, he says he can’t move on knowing the suspect is still out there.

“I want him off the streets because I don’t want him to hurt anyone else,” he says.

Keeping his spirits up is the poker team he meets with several times a week, including a woman who has served as a caretaker during this time.

Schaefer says he’s keeping, what he calls his family, close until the suspect is found.