The customer of the Louisiana gun shop who suddenly opened fire showed no signs of anger or rage before his attack on the New Orleans store, the local sheriff said Monday.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto confirmed at a news conference two days after Joshua Williams allegedly shot and killed two people before he was also fatally wounded, that the 27-year-old has a legal permit to carry a gun. and the exchange of gunfire Saturday afternoon at the Gun Outlet in the suburban Metairie.
“The fact is, I do not know if we will ever know why this happened.”
But the attack is still hidden with mystery.
“I do not know why,” Lopinto said during the briefing. “There are certain crimes that happen in your career, and this is the one for me: there is no reason why it should have ever changed in this event.”
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Joshua Williams walked into Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday, along with his brother, Timothy Williams, and his brother’s two children, aged 7 and 9, allegedly to buy ammunition, Lopinto said.
“They were in the store for about seven minutes and talked to clerks and picked out ammunition they needed,” Lopinto said.
But Joshua Williams violated one of the store’s rules by having a loaded rifle with an extensive magazine, which is not allowed until a person joins the rifle range.
When the store clerk spotted the gun, he asked Joshua Williams if it was loaded, and he replied that it was not. The clerk then asked him to clean the gun or take it outside, Lopinto said.
“There was no argument between the two. There was no argument between the clerks or Mr. Williams at the time,” Lopinto said. “Joshua Williams was not really confrontational from that point of view. He did not necessarily want to bring his gun to the car, but he cooperated because his brother mainly told him to cooperate … There was no anxiety between the employees , I would say “. . “
Interviews with witnesses and reviews of the video indicate that Joshua Williams showed no sign of anger or upset before walking to the front door as if he were going out. But then he fired into the air outside before firing his gun as he went in and out of the building several times.
During the first 48 hours after the shooting, investigators found more than 2,000 pieces of evidence and nearly 3,000 photos. There were eight shooters and police made 25 witness statements. Investigators found nearly 100 different rifle casings.
The coroner’s office in Jefferson Parish conducted three autopsies, and two additional people, both shop staff, were injured, Lopinto said.
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“The fact is, I do not know if we will ever know why this happened,” Lopinto said.
A video released by the sheriff during a live news conference in Gretna shows part of what happened. It shows Williams at the door of the store and shoots in. At another time, it shows Joshua Williams aiming inside at one of the murdered, Veronica Billiot, 59, of Belle Chasse, also a customer. It shows how he is aiming for the area where Jefferson employee Herbert “Noah” Fischbach, 47, got cover behind a counter. And it shows him walking up and down a hallway in the building where a firearms class was going on.
ATF investigators look at evidence at the scene of a multiple-death shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, La., Saturday, February 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Matthew Hinton)
Seven other people, all firearms-led employees of the gun shop and shooting range, shot at Joshua Williams before killing him outside the building, Lopinto said.
It remained unclear on Monday whether the two people injured were shot by Joshua Williams or someone else.
Timothy Williams fled the store with his children after the shooting began. Lopinto said he cooperated with authorities and could not explain his brother’s behavior. He gave the authorities a statement and ‘basically said his brother had been beaten out’, Lopinto said.
Lopinto said Fischbach was one of the employees who opened fire again when the shooting began. However, he was hiding behind a counter and was on the floor with his back to Williams when he was killed, probably unaware that Williams had re-entered the store after going outside.
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Fischbach’s wife, Nancy, told The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate that her husband was a specialist in special effects and an armor overseeing the use of weapons on film. She said he worked at the gun shop due to COVID-19 restrictions on the film industry. She believes he died to help people in the store.
“He bent over backwards for everyone … He would not hurt anyone if they did not do something wrong,” she said.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.