Charles Andrew Williams

Currently, there are grass-root efforts to have Williams' sentence reduced. His supporters argue that the judge was too harsh in sentencing Williams as an adult and did not take into consideration Williams' age at the time of his offense. They would like to see Williams get a retrial, but as a juvenile, which would have meant confinement by the California Youth Authority until age 25. The California State Attorney General's office handled a total of six appeals filed by Williams supporters, four to the Court of Appeals and two to the California State Supreme Court. The district court denied his petition in September 2010 and the case is now on appeal to the 9th Circuit, according to the California Attorney General's Office.

On June 20, 2002, Williams pleaded guilty to all charges against him in an effort to avoid trial. On August 15, 2002, a California judge sentenced Williams, as an adult, to 50 years to life in prison, and ordered him to serve his time in the Youth Offender Program at CCI, Tehachapi (since closed) until his 18th birthday, at which time he would be transferred to an adult prison. Williams was given credit for the 529 days that he had served in juvenile hall, fined $10,000 and ordered to pay restitution to the Victims Restitution Fund. At his sentencing, Williams apologized and expressed remorse for his actions. On March 1, 2004, he was transferred to an adult prison.

Weeks before the shooting, Williams attempted to speak with a school counselor, but was instructed to return to class because the office was full at the time. As the semester unfolded and the abuse continued, friends came to believe that Williams had just reached a tipping point and mentioned he "didn't want to live anymore," which resulted in more name-calling and threats of bullying. By early 2001, Williams seemed to believe that his problems would not resolve themselves. The Friday before the shooting, Williams and classmates reported that his drama teacher humiliated him in front of the class during an acting exercise, which he perceived as an abusive setup. Williams spoke on two occasions of his plan to "pull a Columbine" at Santana High School, but no reports were ever made of these threats to the school. He also made plans to get on top of the school's roof so that he could hit people more easily. The friends he informed were asked to leave the school. The first occasion was a week before the shooting, the second during the weekend prior to March 5.

On Monday, March 5, 2001 at 9:20 a.m., 15--old Williams entered a boys' bathroom at Santana High School with a loaded 8-shot .22-caliber revolver taken from his father’s locked gun cabinet and fatally shot a freshman. He then left the bathroom and began firing the revolver indiscriminately at other students, killing another. According to one witness, Williams repeatedly walked out of the bathroom, fired shots, then went back into the bathroom. The scene soon turned chaotic as students and teachers ducked or scrambled to safety. Minutes later, the school was on lock-down. Williams reloaded his revolver at least once. A student teacher, Tim Estes, and Campus Security Supervisor, Peter Ruiz, walked into the bathroom to investigate what Ruiz thought may be the sound of firecrackers. Upon entering the restroom Ruiz was shot once in the shoulder by Williams. As Estes and Ruiz turned to run, Ruiz was hit in the back by two more bullets and Estes was hit in the back by a bullet which exited through his abdomen. Williams was often seen smiling throughout the entire shooting.

Charles Andrew Williams Jr. (born February 8, 1986) is a convicted murderer who, as a 15-year-old, perpetrated the shooting at Santana High School on March 5, 2001. In the shooting, two students were killed and 13 others were wounded. Williams is currently serving 50 years to life in prison.

Williams is known by his family as "Andrew" or "Andy" for short and was born in Frederick, Maryland on February 8, 1986, the firstborn child of Jeff and Linda Williams. Andy has one half-brother, Michael. His parents divorced in 1990, leaving his father with custody and a small amount of contact with his mother. Jeff and Andy moved to California in the fall. Williams attended Santana High School in Santee, California, where he was bullied by fellow students. He began to spend time with a crowd of skateboarders. Williams was accepted within this peer group; however, at times these individuals also bullied him. Jeff has stated that an older boy allegedly bought the young men alcohol and drugs in exchange for sexual favors and that Andy did not mention this abuse until long after his arrest.