Charles Andrew Williams / California Institution for Men
San Diego, California – Charles Williams, the notorious Santana High School shooter, may be walking free after a judge’s bombshell ruling. Now 39, Williams was just a 15-year-old teen when he launched a bloody rampage on March 5, 2001, using his father’s handgun to kill two classmates—Bryan Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17—and leave 13 more, including staff and students, wounded. Back then, he quickly confessed and accepted a punishing sentence of 50 years to life.
For more than two decades, Williams has been locked up at the California Institution for Men in Chino, his case mostly forgotten. But in a dramatic turn on Tuesday, a judge decided his fate deserved a second look, tossing the original sentence and kicking the case down to juvenile court—a move that could see Williams spring out of prison almost immediately, without parole or ongoing review, according to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan’s team.
Outrage has erupted among prosecutors, who say they’re not about to let Williams go without a fight. Stephan fired back Tuesday, vowing a fierce appeal to block his release: “It’s our job to protect victims and keep the community safe. The horrific pain this defendant inflicted still demands the sentence he got.”
The legal maneuver is possible because a 2011 California law lets some offenders who were juveniles at the time go through resentencing. If juvenile court redesignates Williams’ convictions as “true findings,” he could end up with a much lighter punishment—or possibly just probation—based on his age at the time of the bloodshed.
Williams, who was rejected for parole in September 2024 after a state panel branded him a continuing threat, once issued a statement overflowing with regret: “I had no right to invade my victims’ lives or cause the devastation I did. I can never undo the fear and suffering I caused, but my life now is about trying to make amends.”
Attorneys for Williams have remained silent so far. Meanwhile, families of the victims and the wider San Diego community are bracing for what comes next, as the district attorney’s office gears up to challenge the controversial move in state appeals court. Stay tuned for the latest on this stunning reversal in one of California’s darkest school shooting cases.
