The incident was the deadliest workplace shooting in the United States since December 2000, when Michael McDermott killed seven co-workers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

[6][7] Given the nature of the attack and Williams' long-known history of racially-motivated threatening behavior, the incident was described by some at the time as the worst hate crime against African-Americans since the civil rights movement.

Williams killed Sam Cockrell, who he believed had made complaints about him to the management; he wounded Al Collier, who was shot in the back and right hand.

Steve Cobb, the plant manager, as well as Brad Bynum, Chuck McReynolds, and Brenda Dubose, whose head and hand were grazed by bullet fragments, were also wounded by ricochet.

He killed Charles J. Miller, Thomas Willis, and Lynette McCall at their work stations and wounded Henry Odom and Randy Wright, before his girlfriend and co-worker, Shirley J.

"[7] Local law enforcement initially stated that the incident had no clear motive, with Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie saying, "There was no indication it involved race or gender as far as his targets were concerned.

[5] In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the President of Lockheed Martin refused to disclose whether company officials were previously aware of any red flags regarding Williams.

It surfaced that black coworkers of Williams had reported receiving numerous threats and disturbing incidents to management, causing Lockheed Martin to open its own investigation prior to the shooting.

[16] A month before the shooting, while he was on the factory floor, Williams put a white work bootie on his head in imitation of a Ku Klux Klan hood.