Police: Zionsville man arrested after threatening to 'slowly kill' officers

Sep. 22—A Zionsville man is being held without bond after threatening to "slowly kill" police officers he is accusing of wrongdoing, according to a sheriff's news statement.

Nicholas Schuhler, 31, was already known to area police. He pointed a gun at officers and tried to ambush them during a standoff at his parents' home in March 2022.

Schuhler's former girlfriend died the previous year, but he and his father believed she was alive and the sheriff's office was covering up her death, Boone County Sheriff's Cpt. Jeremy McClaine reported.

Schuhler was admitted to a mental facility in September of last year.

He pleaded guilty this month to two counts of pointing a firearm and was serving probation when he took to social media to again accuse police and county officials of covering up the death investigation of his girlfriend, according to the sheriff's statement.

He also sent ominous emails to local officials, and the sheriff's office began to monitor the situation, according to the statement. But on Thursday, "Schuhler sent an email to Sheriff Tony Harris advising that money needed to be provided to his family for the cost of living and that if he was not taken seriously, he would slowly kill officers involved in his accusations," according to the statement.

Schuhler added that he was not joking, he should not be messed with, and the sheriff was "running out of time," the statement reads.

A number of posts were made on a Facebook page with Schuhler's name Sept. 17 claiming that local police officers violated federal law in their treatment of him.

He posted the officers' names and said he would soon press federal charges against those officers; Boone Circuit Court Judge Lori Schein, who sentenced him this month; his court appointed attorney Thomas Reynolds; and Boone County Jail commander Cpt. Tim Turner.

"Alright just a heads up to everybody," Schuhler's last Sept. 17 post reads. "I will be doing Facebook live stuff every encounter with cops and probation. Please with what is going to happen, do not let the footage I show go unseen ... It's about to get very, very rocky in this upcoming week, maybe two weeks ..."

The Boone County Special Response Team went to the north side of Indianapolis Thursday and arrested Schuhler when he left his motel room, according to police radio transmissions. Local officials will forward information to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, suggesting that Schuhler be charged there with resisting arrest.

No one was injured except for a bloody scrape on Schuhler's eyebrow, but he refused medical attention, SRT Commander Boone County Lt. Jason Reynolds said.

No one was hurt in last year's standoff, either, but Schuhler may have lost his life if an officer's rifle hadn't jammed, Reynolds said at the time.

Schuhler barricaded himself inside his parents' Zionsville home at 621 Lakeview Drive after pointing a handgun at a woman delivering newspapers at about 5 a.m. March 2, 2022, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Schuhler refused to speak with the Boone County Crisis Negotiation Team, and after about seven hours of failed negotiations that saw Schuhler disable a police robot and toss a drone out a window, the SRT went in after him.

Three officers found Schuhler crouched atop a full-sized refrigerator with a gun in his hand, the officers reported. Schuhler pointed the gun at all three, and one got permission to use lethal force to defend himself and the team, according to a probable cause affidavit.

But a dead round caused the officer's refile to malfunction and he dropped back to allow another teammate to take his place. In the meantime, police outside fired another stun grenade and pepper gas into the room, which drove Schuhler to a window, where he pointed his gun at a Zionsville detective, police reported. The detective couldn't shoot into a house full of police officers but did fire a less-than-lethal round at Schuhler, who surrendered, empty handed, shortly after.

SRT officers involved in the standoff are among those Schuhler has accused of federal crimes.

Schuhler was being held without bond in the Boone County Jail on Friday. An initial hearing on one charge of intimidation had not yet been scheduled for him.