OKLAHOMA CITY – A Guthrie man was sentenced Jan. 10 to serve 16 months in federal prison for threatening to “shoot up” a library and two schools, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment Feb. 20, 2024, against Jeffrey Adam Windbigler, 32, charging him with four counts of communicating death threats on social media.
According to the indictment, last January Windbigler posted several threatening messages via YouTube videos in which he threatened to kill children; threatened to “shoot up” the Edmond Public Library and an unidentified Oklahoma school and an unspecified Texas school; and on Jan. 30, 2024, he wrote, “I’m going to kill people in Texas.”
Windbigler pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to one felony count, admitting he communicated a threat to kill children, shoot up the Edmond library and a school, and that he knew the communication would be viewed as a threat.
FBI agents wrote that they “quickly learned” Windbigler “did not have any means or true intent to carry out” his threats. The officers reported they did not locate any firearms, ammunition, or other items “consistent with planning the type of vague threats” Windbigler made in hisYouTube comments.
Other information from the investigation portrayed Windbigler as “a disturbed man obsessed with violence.” Introduced into evidence was “a selected portion of ChatGPT logs in which Windbigler inputs seemingly troubling messages asking about violence and murderous intent.”
Further investigation revealed Windbigler “struggled with mental health issues and was a rampant consumer of marijuana,” according to a court document.
“At times he has struggled to properly perceive reality.”
U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Windbigler to serve 16 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, the judge noted Windbigler’s history and characteristics, including his apparent obsession with violence. Friot also said that his sentence was based in part on the need for adequate incapacitation and to deter similar conduct.