Pinehurst shooting suspect named

A 16-year-old Superior teen who allegedly fired multiple shots at people in Pinehurst Park earlier this month has been identified. Although the identity of juveniles is usually protected by the court system, juveniles over the age of 14 who are believed to have committed felony crimes can be certified to adult court for criminal prosecution.

River Ray Schier is charged with two felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, along with felony possession of ammo/pistol/assault weapon under the age of 18, felony reckless discharge of a firearm within a municipality and intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety. He is currently in custody at the Arrowhead Juvenile Center in Duluth.

According to the criminal complaint, police learned of the alleged shooting after two women flagged down an officer from the Holiday station on Cloquet Avenue, stating that they had picked up two teenage boys at Pinehurst Park who said someone was shooting at them. The two women said the person then shot at the car multiple times.

A police report on the incident said the officer saw bullet holes in the front hood of the car, as well as two above the driver side front wheel. The driver side rear window was shattered and a possible bullet fragment was in the back seat. The driver’s side back tire had also been shot and had an entrance and exit hole.

The driver reported she accelerated away from the shooting scene in the park, toward Highway 33, dropping off the two young men before driving to the gas station.

According to the criminal complaint, when Cloquet police officers located the two juvenile males they said Schier had allegedly tried to steal a backpack from one of them, which caused a confrontation. They said Schier then pulled out a handgun. The victim knocked the handgun to the ground along with Schier’s cell phone, then they allegedly heard Schier say they had “better run.” The two young people took off running in a southeast direction, with Schier chasing them. They ran up the third base line of the softball field and behind the field onto Pinehurst Park Drive. When they saw a car approaching, they flagged it down. After they got into the car, they heard three shots fired, then several more shots. According to the criminal complaint, the victims did not know Schier.

That night, searching the park in the dark, officers found a phone near the Pinehurst Park pavilion, which gave them their first clues to the possible identity of the shooter, when the phone lit up with the owner’s TikTok username, “rayzchillin.” They found his profile and first and last name using their own phones, then discovered a Facebook profile that listed his city of residence as Superior. In a call the next day to Douglas County dispatch, Cloquet police learned that Schier had a “pretty extensive criminal history” including a charge of firearm possession.

Police also found three casings on the south side of Pinehurst Park Drive that night, and more the next day.

While they were searching the park on the afternoon of July 3, Schier’s father’s girlfriend approached the police and asked if they had found a phone. According to the criminal complaint, Schier was also at the park, and told officers he was sitting on a bench near the pavilion when two juveniles took his phone from him. Schier allegedly told officers he possessed a loaded pistol and chased the two male juveniles, allegedly admitting that he shot all bullets except one from his pistol at the car they got into. He allegedly admitted to stealing the pistol from a vehicle in Superior.

Schier was taken into custody and transported to the police department. A police report included in the court files revealed that his guardians were supposed to follow, but returned home instead, and located a firearm in his room. They told dispatch they removed it because there is an autistic child in the house that would have access to the room.

Schier’s father told police he wanted to check the bedroom because he had a “funny feeling.” He searched the room, in part because his son’s story — he had claimed two kids in masks jumped him and stole his phone — and behavior “didn’t add up.”

Schier had lived with his mother in Superior until about a week before the shooting, when he moved to the Cloquet area to live with his father and longtime girlfriend and the other child.

Schier was scheduled to appear in Sixth District Carlton County Court on a detention and motion hearing Tuesday, July 12.