A LeFlore County man accused of shooting a Webbers Falls police officer during a traffic stop in 2025 has now pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges stemming from the incident.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, Billy W. Williams, 47, of Wister, entered a guilty plea on April 1, to four felony counts related to the shooting.
The charges include assault with intent to commit murder in Indian Country, assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Each charge carries significant penalties. The assault with intent to commit murder count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the remaining assault charges each carry potential sentences of up to 10 years.
The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed. All counts also include potential fines of up to $250,000.
The charges stem from a March 16, 2025, traffic stop in Webbers Falls, during which authorities say Williams shot a police officer in the face.
The officer survived the attack and was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries before being released.
Following the shooting, Williams fled the scene, prompting the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to issue a statewide Blue Alert warning that he was armed and dangerous.
Initial reports indicated Williams may have been in the Porum area, though that lead was later determined to be unfounded.
Authorities later discovered that Williams had abandoned one vehicle and switched to another before leaving the state.
He was ultimately tracked to Grants, New Mexico, where local police located his vehicle in a Walmart parking lot on the morning of March 17, 2025.
As officers attempted to take him into custody, Williams reportedly shot himself in the stomach inside the vehicle. He was transported to a hospital in Albuquerque, where he was listed in critical but stable condition at the time.
Williams was later taken into custody and charged in federal court. The case falls under federal jurisdiction because the crime occurred in Muskogee County within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
The investigation involved multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Webbers Falls Police Department, Muskogee County Sheriff ’s Office, Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police Department, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Grants, New Mexico Police Department.
The guilty plea was accepted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerald L. Jackson, who ordered a pre-sentence investigation report.
A U.S. District Court judge will determine Williams’ final sentence after reviewing federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
Williams remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Conway is representing the United States in the case.
