Woman Blocks Grandson's Plan to 'Shoot Up' a Texas Hotel

Another man was planning a mass shooting in Texas, prosecutors say, until his grandmother intervened. William Patrick Williams, 19, told his grandmother on the phone last month that he was homicidal and suicidal, the criminal complaint says. He'd bought an AK-47, he said, and was going to "shoot up" a Lubbock hotel and commit suicide by cop. Instead, his grandmother persuaded him to go to a hospital with her, CBS News reports. "This was a tragedy averted," the US attorney said.

While receiving psychiatric care in the hospital, Williams told officers they could search his hotel room, per NPR. The complaint says they found "an AK-47 rifle, seventeen magazines loaded with 7.62 ammunition, a black trench coat, multiple knives, black tactical pants, a black t-shirt that said 'Let 'Em Come,' and black tactical gloves with the fingers cut off." Williams is charged with making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer; officials said he gave an old address when he bought the AK-47. "If you suspect a friend or loved one is planning violence against themselves or others, do not hesitate to seek help immediately by calling law enforcement," the U.S. attorney said. (More mass shootings stories.)