Armed Woman Closes FE Warren AFB Gate Tuesday Night
A 45-year-old Cheyenne woman is behind bars in connection with a Tuesday night bomb threat that led to the closure of a gate at F.E. Warren Air Force Base for several hours.
According to Capt. Linda Gesell of the Laramie County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to Gate 1 at the base a little after 8 p.m. after Air Force Police had put a woman in handcuffs for claiming to have a bomb and several weapons in a pickup at the gate.
The vehicle, a red Ford F-150 was parked near the visitor center at the gate, and several rifle cases and a 3-4 foot PVC pipe capped at both ends were stacked up on a bench. A handwritten note was also found, indicating the weapons had been used in a homicide. The woman told investigators she was at the base to meet with ''CSI." She wanted CSI to run the serial numbers on the guns to prove they had been used to commit a crime.
Because the base is federal property, several agencies responded to the situation, including the FBI, ATF, Warren Air Force Base police and the Cheyenne/Laramie County EOD team.
The woman, later identified as 45-year-old Joy Gilbert of Cheyenne, told a deputy sheriff that there were people in tunnels underneath Cheyenne and that these people were going to be murdered by a ''Sandy." Gilbert said she had gone to the base to prevent the killings.
Deputies were told by a Cheyenne Police Department Officer that the pickup and guns matched a report of a stolen vehicle police had gotten earlier in the day. Gilbert was arrested for the theft of the pickup as well as 2 handguns, 3 rifles, jewelry, and coins she allegedly stole from her mother.
However, she was not charged with possessing a bomb because the item inside the pipe turned out to be a fishing rod.
Gesell said Wednesday Gilbert appeared to be under the influence of some kind of drug at the time of the incident. Gate 1 re-opened around 11:30 p.m.
The case has been referred to the Laramie County Sheriff's Office.