By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
July 10, 2003
As Doug Williams turned the gun on himself after killing five co-workers and injuring nine others, his girlfriend stood just a few feet away.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said Shirley J. Price pleaded with Williams to stop the Tuesday shooting spree at the Lockheed Martin plant seconds before he turned his 12-gauge shotgun on himself.
Williams, a 19-year Lockheed Martin employee, opened fire on fellow workers early Tuesday in one of the worst workplace shootings in Mississippi and the latest in the nation.
Sollie said Williams is listed as living at his girlfriend's River Road address in the Russell community, but didn't stay there every night. The sheriff also said there was no indication of a domestic dispute between the two, what some employees speculated may have been a possible motive for the shootings.
During Sollie's news conference, Maj. Ward Calhoun and Chief Deputy Mike Mitchell displayed the weapons Williams carried as he began firing: a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a Ruger Mini-14 .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle with a laser beam scope.
Williams, though, only used the 12-gauge pump shotgun in the killings.
Sollie said that his department's investigation into the shooting spree has changed direction.
Still, Sollie would not confirm racism as a motive for the killings.
Among the injured were two black women, one black man and and six white men. Among those killed were one black woman, three black men and two white men including Williams.
Sollie also said if the investigation falls into the category of a hate crime toward a particular segment of the community, then the FBI and federal agents could become involved.
Sollie said there was no evidence that Williams was associated with any hate groups. He also said the FBI is searching Williams' computer for any suspicious e-mails.
Said Sollie: "What happened (Tuesday) was not characteristic of our county and this community."