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GUTHRIE, Okla. — Former Langston Assistant Fire Chief Brian Orndorff is publicly offering his own account of the incident behind an assault-and-battery charge filed against him, saying the case stems from his swatting a woman he considered a friend on her sunburn and joking that she had "a white spot again."

Orndorff, 56, made the comment on Facebook after prosecutors charged the longtime firefighter with misdemeanor assault and battery involving a female Langston firefighter, earlier on Wednesday.

The alleged incident occurred July 17. A $2,500 bond was set in the criminal case.

Orndorff offered the explanation on a Facebook response thread late Wednesday night.

"It was for swatting a 'friend' on her sunburn and saying 'now you have a white spot again,'" Orndorff wrote. "Then talked about/settled it. Then didn't RSVP 8 days later for their wedding reception. Then complaint filed 10 days later. I'll let you try to make sense of it. I can't."

In another Facebook comment, Orndorff described the incident simply as, "I swatted someone who was supposed to be a friend on their sunburn. 2 months ago."

GUTHRIE, Okla. — (Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026) In a late Wednesday night Facebook thread, former Langston Assistant Fire Chief Brian Orndorff offers his account of the events that led to an assault-and-battery charge filed against him earlier that day.

His comments were posted in a Facebook discussion initiated by the husband of the woman alleged to have been involved in the incident. The two were married in late June.

The relationship between the parties appears to have extended beyond their connection through the Langston Fire Department.

Court records list Orndorff as a witness on the couple's marriage certificate, filed on June 30th ahead of the July 4th wedding in Coyle.

The purported victim subsequently filed a protective-order action against Orndorff on July 29. That temporary order was initially approved by Logan County Associate District Judge Diane Vaughan on July 30th.

That filing came 12 days after July 17, the date court records identify as the date of the alleged assault.

Orndorff has contested the protective order and the matter is set for review on October 6th.

Gregory's announcement Wednesday declared that public officials hold "a special duty to the public they serve and the people they supervise" and vowed that officials accused of crimes would receive no preferential treatment.

"I will never tolerate public officials who violate the public trust, especially if they physically hurt other people," Gregory said. "They will be prosecuted to the fullest extent the law provides."

Earlier this year, Orndorff, who retired from a career Oklahoma City Fire Department, was among four Langston firefighters injured in a serious highway crash while returning from tornado-response efforts in Enid.

He has also been involved in the Guthrie community as a wrestling coach and local business owner.

Under Oklahoma law, the misdemeanor assault-and-battery charge carries a possible punishment of up to six months in the county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

There has been some confusion expressed online, over whether the maximum jail sentence for misdemeanor assault and battery is 90 days or six months. For years, Oklahoma law set the maximum at 90 days, but lawmakers expressly increased it to six months in 2025. Complicating matters, several other bills passed during the same legislative session also amended the same statute while carrying versions of the older language, leaving multiple versions of the law on the books. The Legislature addressed that problem in 2026 with Senate Bill 1627, the omnibus legal reconciliation measure, a measure specifically designed to merge and repeal competing versions of statutes. The final version retained the six-month maximum for assault and battery and repealed the other versions. The reconciliation measure became law on April 13, 2026, before the alleged July 17 incident in this case.

The criminal charge remains an allegation. Orndorff is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.