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The 15-year-old boy who officials say fired twice at an Omaha police officer Friday has an extensive criminal record in Douglas and Sarpy Counties.
At the time of the afternoon traffic stop from which Cameron O. Williams fled, the boy was on probation in Sarpy County for several marijuana arrests.
Police say Officer Josiah Warren shot Williams after the traffic stop near 84th and G Streets. They say that the boy fired a gun at officers as he ran and that Warren returned fire, hitting Williams once. Warren fired five shots, police said.
Williams, a student at Bellevue West High School, was listed in serious condition Monday at the Nebraska Medical Center, said his attorney, James Martin Davis.
Davis said that his client hasn’t been able to speak yet and that the bullet went through Williams’ body and damaged a lung.
Davis said he expects Williams to be in intensive care through Thanksgiving. Police said Williams will be charged as an adult.
Williams’ mother, Anita Parsons, said it was unbelievable to her that her son was accused of shooting at an officer.
Parsons said her son has been in trouble before but never anything violent.
Davis said Williams’ hands were tested for gun residue, but the results of those tests weren’t back yet. He also said it wasn’t clear where the bullet entered and exited Williams’ body.
Warren has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, while the shooting is investigated. Officer Justin Knapp, who initiated the traffic stop, returned to active duty Sunday, police said.
Williams was arrested by Bellevue police in February and charged in juvenile court with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver after officers found more than an ounce of marijuana on him.
Williams was placed on probation and ordered to take part in a drug treatment program. But on June 26, he was arrested again by Bellevue police after marijuana was found in his home.
The Sarpy County Attorney’s Office filed an order to have his probation revoked.
Two days later, on June 28, he was arrested again on marijuana charges. On Oct. 28, he was ordered by a judge to serve probation and to submit to drug testing, among other stipulations.
Sarpy County court records also show that Williams ran away from home several times at the age of 12, was charged with being an uncontrollable youth and placed in temporary custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
In Douglas County, Williams recently had completed his juvenile court program after he was charged with stealing a computer from a school in April 2008.
According to the police report, a school computer was found in Williams’ locker at Marrs Magnet School.
That case was terminated in September after he completed the stipulations set out for him.
In court documents related to the computer theft, Williams’ grandfather wrote that Cameron was “really an out-of-control young man.”
The boy was taken to the Douglas County Youth Detention Center in October 2008, then returned to his grandfather in Bellevue.
Davis, Williams’ attorney, said neither he nor Williams’ mother, Parsons, were allowed to visit the boy in the hospital. Acting Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes said Monday that both Williams’ mother and father were escorted by detectives to the hospital room on the night of the shooting.
Davis and Parsons were not allowed to enter the room Sunday, Hayes said, because the officer guarding the door of the room had been ordered to keep visitors away.
Family members and attorneys of people who are in custody are allowed to visit the person in a hospital, Hayes said, but for safety’s sake, officers must be notified before the visit.
People can’t just walk into the hospital room of a person who is in custody, Hayes said. “It’s a security concern.”
“We’ll let (Davis), as the attorney, see his client,” he said. “We’ll make arrangements for the mom, in a safe and secure way, to see her son.”
World-Herald staff writers Kevin Cole, Joe Dejka, Susan Szalewski and Bob Glissmann contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com
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