One Texas grandmother is being hailed a hero after she reportedly stopped her grandson from taking a gun to a local hotel.
According to USA Today, less than a month before the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio took place on August 3 and August 4 respectively, a 19-year-old from Lubbock, Texas told his grandmother about a recent purchase he made.
As the press release shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas stated, on July 13, William Patrick Williams “allegedly told his grandmother he had recently purchased an AK-47 rifle and planned to ‘shoot up’ a local hotel and then commit suicide by cop.”
Knowing she needed to do something to stop her grandson from going through with his plan, the grandmother was able to convince Williams to let her take him to the hospital believing “he was both homicidal and suicidal.”
The press release continued:
Mr. Williams later gave officers consent to search the room he’d rented at the hotel, where officers found an AK-47 rifle, seventeen magazines 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. Mr. Williams told officers he had laid out his weapons on the bed so that law enforcement could take custody of them.
Williams was eventually arrested on August 1 and charged with making false statements to a federally-licensed firearms dealer after it was revealed that he used an address that was no longer his.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas, the address Williams used belonged to a family member. However, according to reports, Williams had allegedly been evicted from that home and was living with a roommate elsewhere at the time he purchased the AK-47.
U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox later praised the grandmother for saving lives:
“This was a tragedy averted. I want to praise the defendant’s grandmother, who saved lives by interrupting this plot, as well as the Lubbock police officers and federal agents who investigated his unlawful acquisition of a deadly weapon. If you suspect a friend or loved one is planning violence against themselves or others, do not hesitate to seek help immediately by calling law enforcement.”
If convicted of the charge against him, Williams faces up to five years in federal prison.
It’s unclear when Williams trial is set to begin.