METAIRIE, La. — On Monday afternoon, Sheriff Lopinto held a news conference with an update into the fatal Jefferson Gun Outlet shootings that happened on Saturday.
At the press conference, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office showed several clips from the store’s security cameras. Those can be seen below, as part of the timeline of the shooting according to Sheriff Lopinto.
Joshua Williams, his brother, and two children went to Jefferson Gun Outlet to purchase ammunition. While they were inside, a store employee noticed that Williams was in possession of a loaded firearm. The employee advised Williams that he would need to unload the weapon to remain in the store, and Williams refused multiple times.
During the discussion, Williams walked to the store’s exit and opened the door before shooting into the air.
Video 1: In this video, the suspect, 32-year-old Joshua Williams can be seen standing in the doorway, and firing his weapon into the air, outside of the store.
Video 2: After firing his weapon outside of the store, Williams then turned towards the inside of the store, where Veronica Billiot was moving towards the door. Williams immediately redirected the firearm to point it at her, then shot her. Billiot fell to the floor.
Williams then turned and engaged three employees in an exchange of gunfire before briefly exiting the store. Williams reentered the store, passed his brother to advance towards the store’s counter, and fires again, fatally wounding Noah Fischbach.
Video 3: Williams then advanced to the rear of the store, where he seems to search for other people. The video below shows Williams, armed, shooting into a room, and advancing through the halls.
After the video above, Williams exited the store, where he was confronted by four other store employees.
Williams was then killed in an exchange of gunfire with those employees.
Two employees were wounded by gunfire in the exchanges with Williams; one in the initial exchange and one in the parking lot.
Three people were fatally shot in this incident, they were:
- Veronica Billiot, 59, of Belle Chasse – shot by Joshua Williams during the initial instance of gunfire
- Herbert “Noah” Fischbach, 47, of Jefferson – killed by Joshua Williams after he reentered the store and walked through seeking targets
- Joshua Williams, 32, of New Orleans – killed while exchanging gunfire with several store employees in the parking lot of the location. It is yet to be determined which firearm fired the fatal shot.
In total, there were 8 shooters: the suspect, Joshua Williams, and seven store employees. No customers fired any weapons during the incident.
All 8 firearms used during the incident were recovered, along with 2 additional firearms from the vehicle operated by Joshua Williams.