Rustin A. Berkshire, a 40-year-old Vincennes, Indiana man, has pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to threats against McKendree University. His plea resolves the criminal case through the guilt phase, but sentencing is still ahead. The private liberal-arts college in Lebanon, Illinois, enrolls about 2,500 students. The case began with messages sent in September 2025, according to WCBU Peoria.
As reported by WCBU Peoria, Berkshire sent electronic messages threatening a mass shooting at the campus in September 2025, including two emails sent about 45 minutes apart. In one message, he wrote, “I want to make you people and your students suffer,” before following up with a second threatening email about 45 minutes later that also invoked violence on campus.
Berkshire didn't stop at email. He also sent direct messages to McKendree University's Facebook page expressing a desire to carry out a mass shooting, repeatedly using the phrase “pain and tears forever,” per the same report. The case, as detailed by ABC7 Chicago, named three victims connected to the threats.
Campus Response and a Welfare Check
McKendree University notified Illinois State Police of the threats, prompting troopers to increase their presence on campus. In Indiana, the Vincennes Police Department conducted a welfare check on Berkshire on Sept. 3, 2025, the same day the threats were sent, as noted by WCBU Peoria.
WCBU Peoria reported that Berkshire was arrested about a week later, on Sept. 11, 2025. The investigation drew in multiple agencies before leading to his guilty plea.
A History Predating the Threats
The case against Berkshire reaches back further than last fall's messages. An order of protection filed against him in February 2021 remains active in Clinton County, and he was convicted of stalking in Knox County, Indiana, in October 2021 — a prior record that adds context to the pattern prosecutors described in the McKendree case, per a report from WCBU Peoria.
Plea Terms and What Comes Next
As part of his plea, Berkshire waived his right to appeal the case and accepted three years of supervised release to follow any prison sentence. He remains in custody while he awaits sentencing, which a judge is scheduled to determine on Dec. 10.
Federal statistics are not sentencing comparisons
The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that threat of force was involved for 40% of victims in the offenses against the person it studied for fiscal year 2023. That broad figure is not specific to threatening-communication cases and does not show typical sentences or how sentences compare with possible penalties in interstate-threat cases, according to the United States Sentencing Commission. Berkshire’s sentence remains pending.
The case involved messages sent by email and online, as well as two handwritten letters sent directly to a victim’s home. Law enforcement response included a welfare check in another state and increased patrols on the McKendree campus. The December sentencing will determine what consequences Berkshire faces.
