LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A former Atlanta Falcons Safety was arrested on Sunday evening in Gwinnett County after a shooting at a popular park in Lawrenceville.
As of Tuesday night, William Moore remained locked up on several charges stemming from the shooting in the parking lot of Alexander Park off Old Snellville Highway.
A woman who asked not to be identified for safety reasons said she took her son and niece to the park after a birthday party on Sunday. She said it was a little after 4 p.m. when the kids, who are both under 10-years-old, were playing around and near the playground. She then noticed her niece was playing with a little girl and thought maybe the two knew each other.
“I saw them playing, throwing the wood chips at each other,” the woman explained. She added, “Not long after that I see them kind of playing tag like slapping each other, not in the face but like on the arms, I noticed the little girl left.”
The woman said she didn’t think much of it, adding it appeared they were just being kids.
“Moment later I hear a guy come out of nowhere, and say 'Yo, get your (expletive) parents' so I’m looking around,” she said.
It took her a few seconds to realize the man was talking to her but added she'd never seen him before in her life. From there, she said he told her "tell your (expletive) niece to keep her hands to herself, she hit my daughter." The woman claimed she just thought the kids were playing.
As she tried to calm the situation down, she quickly realized things weren’t deescalating and told the man she was calling 911.
“He said, I don’t give an (expletive) about the police, I don’t care, I’ll be out of jail by the time you get home this evening,” she explained.
At this point, the woman said the dispatcher advised her to get to her vehicle and stay on the line. She said as she was walking to her car, her niece said the man was following them.
After the woman, her son and niece got to their car, she said the man blocked them and she couldn’t get out of the parking lot. She said this was all happening in front of dozens of families at the park. The woman, still on the phone, told the 911 dispatcher that she couldn’t leave.
By this time, the victim said a woman showed up and was circling her vehicle, at times beating on the windows.
“Then I see the girl poking holes in my tires, trying to flatten my tire,” the woman explained. Video taken by onlookers showed a woman appearing to be poke some type of object into the victim’s tires. She said the woman managed to flatten her front, driver’s side tire.
“At this moment I’m like I got to get out here because y'all are really crazy now,” she explained.
The victim said she knew she couldn’t get out but was going to try and back out to see if they’d move. She said in the moment, she put the car in reverse then felt a bump. She realized she actually hit the man’s vehicle.
“As soon as I hit his car I heard the shot,” she explained.
By this time, there were several onlookers recording the whole thing on their phone. In the video the man walks up to the driver’s side door and fires a shot.
On Tuesday evening, 11Alive’s Cody Alcorn met the victim who showed him the damage to her car. A white mark could be seen where the bullet ricocheted off the door.
The man was identified as former Falcon's player William Keyton Moore. He was booked on Sunday night just after 8 p.m. on the following charges:
- Cruelty to Children 3rd Degree (2 counts)
- Aggravated Assault (2 counts)
- Criminal Damage to Property
- Possession of a firearm during commission of a crime
Moore was still locked up as of late Tuesday night. He was spent his entire NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons as a safety. He was a second round pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Missouri. He was released by the Falcons in 2016.