UPDATED: Shootout in Oakland May Have Been Result of Pent-up Anti-Government Anger
Be forewarned, this video is disturbing and NSFW, language-wise. It is a real-time record of a shootout between the California Highway Patrol and an angry, well-armed man. While much of the visual is very dark, there's no question about what's going on. It was posted by Twitter user MannyBlack, who shot the video from his window during the shootout.
The shooter, Byron Williams, was shot by police during the gun battle and is in serious, but stable condition according to local news sources.
What is most disturbing about this is the emergent theme that Williams was angry at government, further stirred up by his unemployment and cable news. Whether this theme plays out as facts emerge, this much is clear: He was well-armed, well-armored, and looking to do harm to someone.
An early report from SFGate.com:
As officers walked toward the pickup, they saw the man pick up a handgun, police said. They said they returned gunfire and radioed for help.
Three CHP vehicles had their windows shot out, but no officers were shot, police said. They said the driver was armed with a rifle and a shotgun as well as the handgun and fired at least two of the weapons during the shootout.
Morgan said the driver was hit numerous times and survived only because he was wearing a bullet-resistant vest.
As more details emerged, it was clear that this man was not simply a guy with a pistol in his truck. He caught the attention of officers for weaving in and out of traffic, cause for a routine stop.
The Tuolumne County man opened fire on two CHP officers who pulled him over on westbound Interstate 580 near Grand Avenue a few minutes before midnight, and continued shooting for several minutes with a high powered rifle before 10 officers returned fire and seriously wounded him, despite body armor he was wearing, CHP Sgt. Trent Cross said.
Cross said Byron Williams, a 45-year-old Groveland resident, was found with a pistol, a shotgun, the rifle, a bullet-resistant vest and a suspicious object that prompted investigators to call a bomb squad to the scene. The object was detonated without mishap in the center divide of the freeway, which cause headache nightmares throughout the East Bay.
"There is no doubt in our mind, given the body armor and the extensive amount of ammunition he had, that he was on his way to do a very serious crime against either someone or a group of people," Cross said. [read more...]
Williams is a convicted felon with two strikes. He was on parole and if stopped, would have been charged with a third-strike felony. However, police believe he was motivated by anti-government sentiments.
His background, coupled with the presence of possible explosives, was enough to prompt the FBI to get involved in the investigation, Cross said.
"Right now, this is not being looked at as a domestic terrorism case," Cross said Sunday afternoon. "But there's more evidence to go through, and that could change."
Among that evidence was a white three-ring binder recovered from the truck by a bomb squad robot. Scrawled by hand on the cover of the binder was the word, "California." Officials would not describe the contents of the binder.
His mother says that he was upset by the "left-wing Congress":
Williams' mother, Janice Williams of Groveland, said her son had been living next door and taking care of her father's house and land. She said he had been released from prison about 2 1/2 years ago after a felony conviction, which she declined to describe, and had almost completed his parole.
"He hasn't been able to get a job because he's an ex-felon and nobody will hire him," she said.
She said her son, who had been a carpenter and a cabinetmaker before his imprisonment, was angry about his unemployment and about "what's happening to our country."
Williams watched the news on television and was upset by "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items," his mother said. [Read more]
