Who is NYPD shooting suspect Robert Williams?
LONGWOOD, Bronx (WABC) -- Walking into the 41st Precinct casually in a purple and gold hoodie, police say Robert Williams fired at point-blank range at officers and civilians.
Williams is now charged with 14 counts of attempted murder following Sunday morning's incident and Saturday night's Simpson Avenue shooting where he allegedly shot into a marked NYPD van with flashing lights.
Police say Williams was arrested for attempted murder in 2002 and released on parole in 2017. He is described as a "career criminal."
In 2002, police say he shot a person, carjacked a woman, crashed her vehicle and then got into a shootout with police. Officers are still going through his arrest history.
Williams was also arrested in November 2018 for driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and he was hit with a Taser in that incident.
The Bronx District Attorney's office asked for $2,000 bail but he was released on his own recognizance.
The arrest was considered a parole violation, and he was immediately picked up by the state and held at Rikers Island until January 2019.
Williams had a return date on the November 2018 case on Monday, but instead he was in court pleading not guilty to the much more serious offenses.
When Williams was being treated in the hospital Sunday, he reportedly told one of the officers watching him, "I'm going to shoot you when I get out."
Williams also indicated that he continues to be upset with his 2018 DWI arrest because of the use of the Taser.
He is believed to have been referring to that arrest when he was taken into custody after opening fire in the 41st Precinct.
As police jumped on him and took him into custody, he yelled, "They tasered me."
An operating theory is that Williams continues to hold a grudge from that arrest, but the investigation is ongoing and no motive has been definitively determined.
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