x
Breaking News
More () »

As parole eligibility nears, CBS 8 spoke with former Santana High School students and the shooter

In March 2024, Andy Williams becomes eligible for parole. CBS 8 spoke with former students about their experience and their take on his upcoming parole hearing.

Dorian Hargrove, Marcella Lee, Jayne Yutig

Play Video

Close Video

Published: 10:39 AM PDT October 31, 2023
Updated: 10:50 PM PDT October 31, 2023

March 5, 2024 marks 23 years since Charles "Andy" Williams took his father's gun to Santana High School and shot and killed Randy Gordon and Bryan Zuckor and wounded 13 others.

As victims, their families and residents of the city of Santee commemorate the region's deadliest school shooting, they will confront a different dilemma, the fate of then-15-year-old shooter, Andy Williams.

After serving less than half of a 50-year-to-life prison sentence, Williams will be eligible for parole in March 2024, exactly 23 years since the mass shooting.

Williams's chance at parole comes due to a change in state laws that alters sentencing guidelines for juveniles who were tried as adults.

In Williams's case, the law requires that any juvenile who was charged as an adult and received a life sentence has a chance at parole no later than 25 years into their sentence.

Williams's upcoming parole means that former students, families of victims, and faculty must once again relive the pain from that day and come face to face with a tragedy that has been permanently etched into the fabric of Santee. 

WATCH:  Former students at Santana High School share their thoughts on Williams's upcoming parole eligibility

Since learning of Williams's upcoming parole eligibility, Santee residents, past and present, have logged on to social media to post their experiences. The posts more often than not turn into long, detailed threads about the horrors they saw that day, the pain they feel for the families, the void they feel when reminiscing about high school and the questions that they have for the then 15-year-old shooter, Andy Williams. 

Ahead of his March 2024 hearing, CBS 8 sat down with former students to hear their stories of that life-altering morning when Williams emerged from a bathroom stall at Santana High just after 9 a.m., fired 40 rounds at frantic students and faculty all fleeing from what seemed like a never-ending barrage of bullets.

CBS 8 spoke to three former students who have started a petition in hopes of ensuring that justice is served and Williams pays for the horror he inflicted on the small, rural community of Santee.

CBS 8 also spoke with another former student, now a public defender, who came face to face with Williams after he emerged from the bathroom. Despite a bullet from Williams's gun missing him by inches, the Santana High alum is lobbying for Williams' release.

And, over the course of numerous calls, CBS 8 spoke to the shooter Andy Williams from a state prison in Chino. During those interviews, Williams talked about what drove him to carry out the senseless and indiscriminate violence, what he has to say to his victims, their families, and the countless others whose lives he changed and why he thinks he is no longer a reasonable risk to society.

Before You Leave, Check This Out