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Greyhound bus shooter contemplated trying to make police shoot him, court documents show

Anthony Williams
Posted at 4:04 PM, Feb 20, 2020
and last updated 2022-03-30 11:23:00-04

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The man accused of killing a woman and injuring five others on a Greyhound bus reportedly told police he contemplated trying to make police shoot him afterward, court documents show.

Court documents obtained by 23ABC show that the accused shooter, Anthony Williams, told police during a two-hour interrogation that after he go off the bus he thought about either surrendering to police, or doing something to get police to shoot him.

On Feb. 3, Williams allegedly opened fire on a Greyhound bus as it was passing through the Grapevine near Lebec heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco. A 51-year-old woman from Colombia was killed.

Williams told police he had attempted suicide two times prior because of his depression, according to the documents, and had been feeling suicidal the days leading up to the shooting.

Williams, according to the documents, told police he decided to surrender "he felt he owed it to his mother to tell her goodbye."

According to court documents, another passenger said he had seen Williams get on a bus in San Diego. During the bus ride from San Diego to Los Angeles, the passenger said Williams was "trying to talk to everyone on the bus...but no one was willing to talk back," the document said.

That passenger told police when he switched buses to the Greyhound bus in Los Angeles, he noticed Williams was also on that bus. The documents said Williams continued to get louder and louder until he yelled at a passenger to sit down and said, "I'm gonna shoot."

Williams, according to the documents, told police that he "had a verbal altercation" with another passenger on the bus who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white stripe. Williams told police he shot the passenger with the intent to kill him and then kept firing the gun until it was empty, court document said.

A struggle ensued between Williams and a passenger and the gun was wrestled away. Williams was let off the bus on the side of the freeway, north of Fort Tejon Road.

Williams told police that when he got off the bus, he did not know whether he had shot anyone else, court document said.

Williams plead not guilty earlier this month to one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

He is scheduled for a pre-preliminary hearing on April 28, followed by a preliminary hearing on April 29.