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Social media-fueled attack leads to 6-year sentence By Vickie Aldous Posted Jun 26, 2017 at 3:32 PM Updated Jun 26, 2017 at 4:59 PM Felipe Villalba ▲ Felipe Villalba ▲ --> A Phoenix High School student who felt threatened by a message on Facebook was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for firing shotgun blasts into a house with seven people inside. Felipe Villalba posted a photo of himself holding the shotgun to Snapchat, a social-media messaging app, and bragged about the shooting at school, investigators said. Villalba pleaded guilty Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court to four counts of attempted first-degree assault. Now 19 years old, he was 18 at the time of the December 2016 shooting into a manufactured home in Talent, according to an indictment. "What started with talking on Facebook blew into an extremely violent and dangerous incident," said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Marco Boccato. "It's purely by chance that no one was seriously hurt in this case." According to an affidavit, Villalba said he had been taking Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, before the shooting. He grew paranoid about a Facebook post made by someone who lived in the house that they said they would "catch" him. Villalba decided to "catch" them first. He went to Talent and shot through a window into the house. Three people, including a baby, were sleeping inside a bedroom that was hit with the shotgun blasts — some of which came within inches of their heads. One of the adults was struck in the arm and leg with shotgun pellets. Talent police found four spent shotgun shells outside the bedroom window, the affidavit said. Villalba reportedly bragged at school that he was responsible for the shooting, and before the incident had posted a photo of himself with the shotgun on Snapchat. The shotgun belonged to Villalba's friend, the affidavit said. Defense lawyer Larry Roloff said Villalba was highly intoxicated at the time of the shooting and had other issues. He said Villalba essentially had a breakdown. Villalba declined to make a statement in court during his plea and sentencing hearing. Attempted murder, second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. — Reach staff reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . Most Popular Suspects sought in Shady Cove deer attacks Apr 28 at 6:12 PM Jackson County sees startling spike in opioid overdose deaths Apr 28 at 4:24 PM Spring Gold: Tips on finding morel mushrooms from people who know Apr 29 at 2:00 AM Two arrested, toddler removed from suspected drug RV Apr 27 at 5:55 PM Asante wins Level II trauma status Apr 30 at 2:01 AM Davis tops in lawyers' poll for circuit judge Apr 27 at 5:45 PM Shady Cove man accused in second marijuana theft case Apr 30 at 3:56 PM Airfare wars mean cheap tickets to Seattle, LA Apr 28 at 2:01 AM Guest Opinion: Get ready for your 'pack a day' of summer smoke Apr 29 at 2:01 AM UPDATED: Man found dead outside Medford antique store identified May 2 at 8:04 AM Students show off their techno-smarts Apr 26 at 6:09 PM Justin Dan Rollins May 1 at 2:00 AM © Copyright 2006-2018 Rosebud Media LLC. All rights reserved. Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com ~ P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501