The FBI, in the course of tracking Williams, had nicknamed him "The Shootist" after the film by the same name starring John Wayne because of his habit of firing shots into the air at the beginning of each robbery.
His method of firing into the air caused people to avoid eye contact, so authorities had a hard time getting a description of Williams' appearance.
[4] When I ask the manager or commercial teller if they want to be the next to die, and they can smell the acrid smoke of the gunpowder, and sometimes feel the warmth of the gun barrel next to their skin .
He was described by a spokesman for the San Jose police department as "by far the most calculating and surgical bank robber in the past second half of the 20th century.
"[4] Williams was sentenced to a prison term of 92 years for the most recent 27 robberies; the rest (29) could not be prosecuted due to expired statute of limitations.
On Monday, January 10, 2021, Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly ordered Williams released after roughly 26 years imprisonment rather than risk his compromised health [clarification needed] from exposure to COVID inside federal prisons, including Federal Detention Center-Lompoc (Calif.), to which Williams had been recently transferred.