The Louisiana gun shop customer who opened fire in a sudden shootout showed no signs of anger or agitation before his attack on the shop in the New Orleans area, the local sheriff said on Monday.
Jefferson parish sheriff Joe Lopinto confirmed during a press conference two days after Joshua Williams allegedly shot and killed two people before he was also mortally wounded, that the 27-year-old was legally allowed to carry a gun and instigated the Saturday afternoon shooting exchange at the Gun Outlet, in the suburb of Metairie.
“The fact is, I don’t know if we will ever know why this happened”
But the attack is still marked by mystery.
“I don’t know why,” said Lopinto during the briefing. “There are certain crimes that happen in your career and this is my case: there is no reason why it has ever turned into this event.”
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Joshua Williams entered the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday with his brother, Timothy Williams, and his brother’s two children, aged 7 and 9, allegedly to buy ammunition, Lopinto said.
“They stayed in the store for about seven minutes, talking to the clerks, choosing the ammunition they needed,” said Lopinto.
But Joshua Williams broke one of the store’s rules by having a gun loaded with an extended magazine, which is not allowed until a person reaches the shooting range.
When the clerk saw the gun, he asked Joshua Williams if it was loaded and he said no. The clerk then asked him to remove the gun or take it out, Lopinto said.
“There was no discussion between the two. There was no discussion between the employees or Mr. Williams at that time,” said Lopinto. “Joshua Williams was not really conflicted from that point of view. He didn’t necessarily want to take his gun to the car, but he was cooperating because mainly his brother told him to cooperate … There was no distress, I would say, among the employees.”
Interviews with witnesses and video reviews indicate that Joshua Williams showed no signs of anger or agitation before walking to the front door as if to leave. But 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 retrieved more than 2,000 pieces of evidence and almost 3,000 photographs. There were eight snipers and the police collected 25 witness statements. Investigators found almost 100 different weapon cartridges.
The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office conducted three autopsies, and two additional people, both store employees, were injured, Lopinto said.
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“The fact is, I don’t know if we will ever know why this is happening,” said Lopinto.
Video released by the sheriff’s office during a press conference broadcast live in Gretna shows part of what happened. He shows Williams at the store door, firing. At another point, it shows Joshua Williams inside, targeting one of the dead, Veronica Billiot, 59, from Belle Chasse, also a client. He shows him aiming at the area where Jefferson’s Herbert “Noah” Fischbach, 47, from Jefferson, hid behind a counter. And it shows him walking up and down a corridor in the building where a firearms class was taking place.
ATF investigators examine the evidence at the scene of a multiple-fatal shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, Louisiana, Saturday, February 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Matthew Hinton)
Seven other people, all firearm-trained staff at the gun shop and firing range, shot Joshua Williams before he was killed outside the building, Lopinto said.
It was unclear on Monday whether the two injured people were shot by Joshua Williams or someone else.
Timothy Williams ran away from the store with his children after the shooting started. Lopinto said he cooperated with the authorities and was unable to explain his brother’s behavior. He gave a statement to the authorities and “basically said that his brother has gone crazy,” said Lopinto.
Lopinto said Fischbach was one of the officials who responded to the fire as soon as the shooting started. However, he hid behind a counter and was on the floor, with his back to Williams when he was killed, probably unaware that Williams had reentered the store after leaving.
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Fischbach’s wife, Nancy, told The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate that her husband was a special effects specialist and a gunsmith who oversaw the use of weapons in film sets. She said she was working at the gun shop because of COVID-19’s restrictions on the film industry. She believes he died helping people inside the store.
“He leaned back for everyone … He wouldn’t hurt anyone unless they did something wrong,” she said.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.