LUBBOCK, Texas– A Lubbock man who was arrested last week and accused of threatening a mass shooting at a Lubbock hotel waived his pre-trial detention hearing. That means he will stay locked up without the chance to post bond and get out jail while his criminal case is pending.
The pre-trial hearing was supposed to happen Wednesday in the federal building in Downtown Lubbock.
William Patrick Williams, 19, was charged with knowingly making a false statement while attempting to purchase a firearm, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
According to an arrest warrant, Williams said he had recently purchased an AK-47-style rifle and wanted to “shoot up” the Lubbock hotel where he was staying. He also said, according to the warrant, he wanted to commit suicide by cop when police arrived.
Williams was admitted to Covenant Medical Center after his grandmother convinced him to let her pick him up and take him to the hospital.
The ATF complaint originally stemmed from the address listed on the form that Williams filled out in order to purchase a firearm on July 11. Williams had listed an address that he no longer lived at, and that he had been kicked out from weeks prior.
If convicted, Williams faces up to five years in federal prison.
Related story here: New details on threat of mass shooting in Lubbock, pretrial hearing set for Aug. 7