Accused NYPD Shooter's Grandmother: 'I Couldn't Even Believe It'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A family member of the suspect accused of going on the weekend rampage against police officers in the city spoke to CBS2 on Sunday evening.
Robert Williams, 45, of the Bronx, has been charged with several crimes, including attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon, Christina Fan reported.
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Mary Williams told Fan this is not the type of man she raised her grandson to be and if she should could talk to him the first question she'd ask is why he allegedly did this.
She showed Fan her grandson's room that cops ransacked Sunday, as they looked for clues to explain why Robert Williams allegedly embarked on a cop shooting spree. The 80-year-old said she is just as confused.
"I couldn't even believe it because when I left here, he walked me to the door. He hugged me and kissed me and he said, 'Grandma, I love you and I'll see you tomorrow.' And I said 'Okay, I'll see you tomorrow,'" Mary Williams said.
But Mary never did. Instead, she received a shocking phone call Sunday that her grandson had been arrested. She was distraught as she watched a video showing him allegedly storming into a precinct, opening fire, and trying to ambush two police officers the day before.
"You don't feel like your grandkid could do things like that and then when you look at something you're just really shocked. You really got to come back, get a grip on yourself and come back to reality," Mary Williams said.
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At a Sunday press conference, Lieutenants Benevolent Association President Lou Turco described Robert Williams as a career criminal, whose record includes attempted murder. He served a 15-year sentence and was paroled in 2017.
"If he has the audacity to shoot at officers in uniform, guess what he's doing to do to civilians of this city. There's a lot of these people out there," Turco said.
Mary Williams said she did everything she could to get Eric Williams to turn his life around, and added that the death of his 18-year-old son a few years ago hit him hard. But she said it does not excuse what he is now accused of.
"I want to tell them that I'm sorry for what happened and everything that my grandson did that to them because I don't like that," she said.
Officers told Fan that Robert Williams was being held at Central Booking on Sunday night and is facing several serious charges.
