United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the sentencing of CHRISTOPHER DOUGLAS WOOD, 43, to eight months of confinement after firing three shotgun rounds at the Federal Reserve Bank building in downtown Minneapolis.WOOD, who pleaded guilty on Dec. 17, 2018, was sentenced before Chief Judge John R. Tunheim in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on the night of July 21, 2018, during the Aquatennial Fireworks display, WOOD fired three shotgun “slugs" at the Federal Reserve Bank (“FRB") that caused more than $40,000 in property damage to the windows and the façade of the FRB. One of the slugs penetrated the triple-pane security windows and was later located in the ceiling of a seventh floor office of the FRB.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, WOOD fired the shots from a United States Postal Service (“USPS") facility located directly across from the FRB. At the time of the shooting, WOOD was an employee of the USPS and had access to the facility and the secure parking structure from which he fired the shots. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement conducted a search of WOOD’s residence and recovered a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a.22 semiautomatic handgun with a loaded magazine, a Snake Slayer pistol, ammunition, and documents critical of the FRB.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Minneapolis Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats prosecuted the case.
Defendant Information:
CHRISTOPHER DOUGLAS WOOD, 43
St. Paul, Minn.
Convicted:
* Possession of a firearm in a federal facility, 1 count
Sentenced:
* 8 months confinement
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
