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View Full Version : Woman thwarts mass shooting by bringing grandson to hospital: authorities



Teh One Who Knocks
08-06-2019, 10:51 AM
By Louis Casiano | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/1zkBPOzl.jpg

In Texas, where a mass shooting this weekend in El Paso left 22 dead, another potential one was thwarted last month when a woman convinced her grandson to visit a hospital for treatment instead of opening fire at a hotel as he'd planned.

William Patrick Williams, 19, of Lubbock, was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday after a short hospitalization.

“This was a tragedy averted,” Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in a statement. "I want to praise the defendant’s grandmother, who saved lives by interrupting this plot."

Williams told his grandmother he purchased an AK-47 rifle and planned to "shoot up" a local hotel and commit suicide by cop, federal prosecutors said last week. The woman convinced him to let her bring him to a hospital instead.

She gave authorities consent to search a room Williams rented at the hotel. Officers found the rifle, 17 magazines loaded with ammunition, several knives, a black trench coat, tactical pants, a T-shirt that read "Let 'Em Come" and black gloves with the fingers cut off.

A check of the form used to purchase the weapon found Williams listed false information, including his address. He was arrested for allegedly making false statements to a firearms dealer.

He faces up to five years in prison.

The arrest came mere days before another a gunman walked into an El Paso Walmart on Saturday and opened fire. So far, the shooting's death toll is 22, with many more injured.

A few hours later, another gunman killed nine people in a separate spree in Dayton, Ohio.

DemonGeminiX
08-06-2019, 10:56 AM
This guy needs a mental health evaluation.

Goofy
08-06-2019, 11:19 AM
You can buy an AK-47 in the US just by filling out a form with false info? :wha:

DemonGeminiX
08-06-2019, 11:30 AM
No, of course not.

Teh One Who Knocks
08-06-2019, 11:34 AM
This guy did though, so something went wrong somewhere.

DemonGeminiX
08-06-2019, 11:35 AM
Something did go wrong. I would grill the gun dealer hardcore to find out what.

Either that or the dude had a fake ID that was impeccable.

Hal-9000
08-06-2019, 04:17 PM
"He faces up to five years in prison."

Where's RBP? This is a crime of intent and I think the above isn't enough. When they say up to...that probably means 24 months with parole.

Good for granny recognizing this ahead of time :thumbsup:

PorkChopSandwiches
08-06-2019, 04:24 PM
"He faces up to five years in prison."

Where's RBP? This is a crime of intent and I think the above isn't enough. When they say up to...that probably means 24 months with parole.

Good for granny recognizing this ahead of time :thumbsup:


A check of the form used to purchase the weapon found Williams listed false information, including his address. He was arrested for allegedly making false statements to a firearms dealer.

He faces up to five years in prison.

This is the crime

Teh One Who Knocks
08-06-2019, 04:28 PM
If he even stands trial, i'm sure a good lawyer will get a psych eval done on him, they will most likely try and get him deemed unfit to stand trial.

Hal-9000
08-06-2019, 04:28 PM
This is the crime

So there is no intent to mass shoot law? Even with written proof like let's say social media posts or a manifesto?

RBP
08-06-2019, 11:59 PM
So there is no intent to mass shoot law? Even with written proof like let's say social media posts or a manifesto?

He may get some conspiracy charge added on.

lost in melb.
08-07-2019, 01:16 AM
If he even stands trial, i'm sure a good lawyer will get a psych eval done on him, they will most likely try and get him deemed unfit to stand trial.

Possibly a better outcome for everyone.

I honestly worry that a couple of years in the clink will make this guy even worse. Then he gets out, and...

DemonGeminiX
08-07-2019, 06:12 AM
Possibly a better outcome for everyone.

I honestly worry that a couple of years in the clink will make this guy even worse. Then he gets out, and...

I agree.

Godfather
08-07-2019, 06:16 AM
I agree.

Third.

And it probably goes without saying, but the message for other families in a similar position (that undoubtedly agonize whether to go to the authorities when they're worried about a family member), is far better if a kid like this gets actual psychiatric help than if he just went into general population and gets spit out a few years later.

Very curious to get RBP's take on this given it's his field of expertise.

RBP
08-07-2019, 10:43 AM
Third.

And it probably goes without saying, but the message for other families in a similar position (that undoubtedly agonize whether to go to the authorities when they're worried about a family member), is far better if a kid like this gets actual psychiatric help than if he just went into general population and gets spit out a few years later.

Very curious to get RBP's take on this given it's his field of expertise.

Of course I agree. I am not sure it's binary though. Some people don't call because many departments are trained to handle mental health and use the same tactics for everyone. So a mental health crisis is treated as criminal aggression - sometimes fatally. Others don't call because they know it could result in prison time. There is no real way to know that making the mental health decision won't backfire for the loved one - as it might in the case in the OP.