Female Security Officer Stops Massacre
Huntsville Alabama January 1 2019
A female security officer in Alabama is being called a hero today and law enforcement is speaking about her bravery and her actions that stopped a massacre.
It all began after around 1 a.m. Monday, when a man was escorted out of a nightclub because he was involved in a fight.
That’s when the man, later identified as Samuel Demario Williams, 33, went to his car, pulled out an AK-47 rifle and began firing it toward the club as he walked.
He was immediately confronted by a female security officer who engaged him in a gunfight while telling others to run inside the nightclub.
When the security officer shot Williams in the thigh, he stopped firing the AK-47, a police officer wrote in the report. The 31-year-old security officer ran inside to get a tourniquet and that’s when Williams fled the scene, authorities said.
Police and medical services responded to the shooting at the 3208 nightclub on Huntsville’s Long Avenue and found that the shooter was gone and could not be found.
Boosie, an area rapper was at the club to perform a show. In a video posted to Instagram this morning, Boosie, whose real name is Torrence Hatch Jr., described the scene.
“Boosie Badazz,” said it was like the “Wild Wild West,” with club patrons fleeing. The rapper said he was outside the club where the shootout happened.
He said the security guard was the hero in this shooting.
Police said she ran toward the gunfire and confronted the heavily armed man with just a sidearm, probably stopping what could have ended up as a massacre.
Police said they captured Williams when he showed up at Crestwood Medical Center for treatment of the gunshot wound.
Williams was being admitted to Huntsville Hospital and placed under arrest, Lt. Michael Johnson said.
Williams is charged with reckless endangerment and menacing, both misdemeanors, police said. But, they said those charges are preliminary and additional counts could be added.
Johnson said that officers are seeking a warrant against Williams, who wasn’t supposed to be carrying the AK-47 at the time of the shootout.
He could also be charged with attempted murder for shooting at the security officer.
Although it’s generally legal to have an AK-47 in Alabama, anyone who has been convicted of a crime of violence is banned from having a gun, according to state law.
Crimes of violence include murder, armed robbery and felonious assaults. Anyone who has been convicted of such offenses can be charged with a crime for having a gun in his or her possession.
Williams is a convicted felon, according to court records. He was released from prison on parole last March, court records state. He served more than 14 years after pleading guilty in Montgomery County court to six counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of felonious assault. Six other robbery charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal hatched with prosecutors in 2003, records show. Williams was sentenced to 20 years and received more than seven months of credit for time served in jail before the case was adjudicated, his court file states.
Williams was charged with promoting contraband in 2005, when authorities accused him of having marijuana in prison. In that case, he was sentenced to 15 years. The sentence was imposed to run concurrently with — at the same time as — the Montgomery case, records state.
Huntsville police said they are still investigating the shootout and Williams’ background. This morning, officers are guarding him at the hospital.
