Former O.C. man charged with making death threats against a Judge and others

Byrom Zuniga Sanchez, a former resident of Laguna Niguel who is believed to be hiding out in Mexico, has been charged with threatening to murder a judge and carry out a mass shooting next week at a courthouse in Orange.

Zuniga has been the subject of a variety of domestic violence and workplace restraining orders, and is wanted on multiple criminal arrest warrants from Orange County. He was also at the center of a May 2022 vehicle pursuit that ended in standoff in the parking lot of an In N Out Burger in Lake Forest.

Sanchez is facing federal felony charges after he sent an email entitled “Active shooter — Lamoreux Justice Center,” which refers to an Orange County superior courthouse in Orange that deals mostly with civil cases. Sanchez had been previously involved in a family law matter at that court dating back to 2019.

Sanchez wrote in a July, 2023 email that he was going to “murder everything responsible for traumatizing (a family member),” adding that there was “absolutely nothing OCSD (Orange County Sheriff’s Department) can do to prevent, prepare, nor impede,” according to a sworn statement by an FBI agent.

Sanchez also allegedly wrote “Does Friday the 13th, October 2023 work for you? I prefer sooner, but I like to make moments feel special, and unforgettable.”

Zuniga also wrote that there was “absolutely nothing,” authorities could do to stop him from carrying out the violence, and that the messages were notice of his intent, “to exercise the 2nd amendment.”

Sanchez apparently signed the email with his full name and posted it on an Instagram account. The FBI found the email in an email junk folder within the court email system.

The FBI agent wrote that the email pas one of a series of threats allegedly made by Sanchez against a sitting Orange County Superior Court judge who presided over a family law matter he was involved with, along with other judges, attorneys and law enforcement.

He allegedly wrote to the judge in one email, “I am more committed to murdering you than I am to being present as a father.”

The internet account records the FBI obtained via a search warrant showed that many of his messages appeared to originate from Mexico, and according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records, Zuniga unsuccessfully attempted to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro border crossing in June.