San Rafael, CA – On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, San Rafael Police Detectives arrested Frear Stephen Schmid, a 72-year-old Petaluma resident, a week after he went into a San Rafael bank and threatened to shoot and kill the employees.  During the arrest, detectives located several firearms, including two unserialized rifles.

On 08/18/2026, just after 1:10 PM, SRPD received an emergency call from Citibank on Third Street in Downtown San Rafael that an irate customer, Schmid, had just threatened to shoot and kill the employees.  It was also stated that Schmid left the scene after making the threats and that the bank had closed and locked its doors as a safety precaution due to the credible threats from Schmid to commit violence.

During the investigation, it was learned that Schmid went to the bank to address an issue with his bank account.  While trying to determine the issue with the bank account, Schmid became upset with bank employees.  When employees asked Schmid to remain calm, he only became more upset and then started to threaten that he was going to shoot and kill them.

Schmid was asked several times to leave the bank but continued to make additional threats.  Eventually, Schmid left the bank, and the employees took necessary safety precautions, locking the doors in case Schmid returned.

Officers obtained a description of Schmid and reviewed surveillance video.  Officers confirmed Schmid’s identity and sought to locate and arrest him for making credible criminal threats.

Detectives took over the investigation to locate and apprehend him.  Detectives learned that Schmid did, in fact, have a gun registered to him.  Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for criminal threats and a gun violence restraining order (GVRO).

On 08/25/26, Detectives went to Schmid’s residence in Petaluma and arrested him without incident.  Detectives found that Schmid possessed a number of firearms that included two unserialized rifles.  As part of the granted GVRO, detectives seized all the firearms in Schmid’s possession.  

Schmid was booked into the Marin County Jail for felony criminal threats and illegal possession of unserialized firearms.