Mass Shooting Averted by Concerned Grandmother of Texas Man

LUBBOCK, Tx – A Lubbock, Texas mass shooting averted by grandmother who was made aware of her grandson’s plans last month.

On July 13, 2019, William Patrick Williams, 19, told his grandmother that he purchased an AK-47 rifle and planned to “shoot up” a local hotel. He then said they he would commit suicide by cop. Concerned about his homicidal and suicidal thoughts, she convinced him to allow her to take him to the hospital. “This was a tragedy averted,” said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “I want to praise the defendant’s grandmother, who saved lives by interrupting this plot.

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The ATF received the firearm transaction form (form 4473) on July 21, 2019, which Williams had completed when he purchased the AK-47 on July 11th. The ATF learned that Williams listed the address listed on his driver’s license, which was his family member’s address, where he no longer lived. Williams had been evicted by his family and was living with a roommate at a different address. He misrepresented his current address on the firearm transaction form.

As a result of the ATF findings, Williams was arrested by the ATF and the FBI, following his hospitalization. Williams gave officers consent to search the room that he rented in the hotel where the located the AK-47 rifle, as well as seventeen magazine loaded with ammunition, multiple knives, a black trench coat, black tactical pants, a black t-shirt that read, “Let ‘Em Come,” and black tactical gloves with the fingers cut off. He told officers he had laid out his weapons on the bed so that law enforcement could take custody of them.

“The safety of our citizens is paramount,” said Lubbock Interim Police Chief Jerry Brewer. “When events like this occur we greatly appreciate the cooperative relationships with our federal law enforcement partners that enhance our abilities to protect the community.” A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence, and Mr. Williams is innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendant faces up to five years in federal prison.