{"id":500503,"date":"2026-01-08T04:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500503\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T04:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:18:12","slug":"victims-react-with-disappointment-frustration-at-possible-release-of-santana-high-shooter-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500503\/","title":{"rendered":"Victims react with disappointment, frustration at possible release of Santana High shooter \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victims and witnesses to the deadly Santana High School shooting in Santee nearly 25 years ago expressed disappointment and frustration Wednesday\u00a0after a judge agreed to recall the shooter\u2019s sentence \u2014 a ruling that sets him up to be released from prison.<\/p>\n

Charles Andrew \u201cAndy\u201d Williams was 15 years old when he opened fire between classes on the Santee campus on March 5, 2001. Students Bryan Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17, died. Eleven other students and two staffers were wounded.<\/p>\n

He was tried as an adult and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n

Changes in the law regarding youth offenders and subsequent court rulings led a San Diego Superior Court judge on Tuesday to find that Williams fit the criteria to be resentenced. And because he was younger than 16 when he opened fire on the campus, his case must be heard in Juvenile Court \u2014 which cannot keep him in custody after age 25. Williams is 39.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should not get out,\u201d said Santana teacher and football coach Tim Estes, who was shot in the back during the rampage. \u201cHe gave two families life sentences and took two lives. They got life sentences, and he doesn\u2019t have to have one. To me, that\u2019s just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles \u201cAndy\u201d Williams, shown on a video monitor, weeps during a court hearing at the San Diego Central Courthouse downtown on Tuesday. (Sandy Huffaker \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The District Attorney\u2019s Office has already filed an appeal.<\/p>\n

Michael Gordon, who lost his brother Randy in the shooting, attended Tuesday\u2019s hearing virtually and said Wednesday he is hopeful the appeal will be successful.\u00a0He also hopes Tuesday\u2019s ruling will \u201cspark an open conversation about the current laws,\u201d which he would like to see changed.<\/p>\n

Gordon said that when Williams was first sentenced, there was a sense of finality, one that has since been broken by the recent hearings and the parole process, a separate path available to Williams as a youth offender. Gordon said both paths have forced him to \u201cvividly remember\u201d the details of the shooting, \u201creopening old wounds each time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really tough, we\u2019ve spent a lot of time moving on with our lives,\u201d Gordon said. He said the pain of losing his brother will never go away, even as he has found ways to \u201cendure and celebrate\u201d his brother\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Gordon also said he found it \u201cvery alarming\u201d that Tuesday\u2019s ruling came less than 16 months after a parole hearing panel found Williams unsuitable for release.<\/p>\n

Some survivors pointed to what they said was the unfairness that the shooter could go free while two students died.<\/p>\n

\"ParamedicsParamedics evacuate a victim from Santana High School. (Nancee E. Lewis \/ U-T file)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not okay that he was able to give two life sentences on March 5, 2001, and then he\u2019s going to get released because we don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair for juveniles to stay in prison for life,\u201d said Heather Cruz Sikora, 40, who was a 15-year-old sophomore when Williams shot her in the legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t get to come back to life,\u201d Sikora said. \u201cHe chose to take two lives and almost take 13 other lives. He deserves to stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams has been in custody since the day of the rampage.<\/p>\n

At issue in Williams\u2019 case was whether his 50-year-to-life sentence was essentially equal to life without parole. His attorney argued he qualified under a law that offers a path to release for juveniles who have served at least 15 years of a sentence of life without parole or the functional equivalent.<\/p>\n

Appellate courts across the state have split on the question, particularly in the last year. On Tuesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez followed prior decisions on the question by the San Diego-based 4th District Court of Appeal,\u00a0Division 1, in ruling that Williams\u2019 lengthy sentence is equal to life without parole.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez recalled his sentence, and the case will be sent to Juvenile Court for his resentencing.<\/p>\n

Sikora said she fears the ruling sets \u201ca really bad example\u201d for California teens, signaling to them that \u201cyou\u2019re not going to spend that much time in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(PublishedArraignment of Charles “Andy” Williams, 15, on March 7, 2001. (Nancee E. Lewis \/ U-T file)<\/p>\n

El Cajon City Councilmember Phil Ortiz was a 16-year-old Santana student when he saw the chaos unfold maybe 50 feet in front of him, and he was watching virtually Tuesday as the judge issued her ruling. \u201cI understand the law changed, but nothing material, no other things have changed. Andy gets a second chance, but Randy and Brian don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, someone needs to step in and say, \u2018Wait a minute. Is this just? Is this moral?\u2019\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n

Caley Anderson was 16 years old and standing just outside the restroom where the shooting started when a bullet missed his head by a foot. On Tuesday, Anderson was in court to show support for Williams\u2019 release. Outside of the courtroom, he told reporters he finds it \u201cshameful\u201d that the community looks at the \u201ccallousness and the horror perpetrated by a child\u201d and blames only the child.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question I want to ask myself is, \u2018How on earth does a 14- or 15-year-old ever get to that level of callousness and depravity?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Anderson also said he has met with Williams in prison, spoken to him multiple times, and is aware of the work Williams has put toward rehabilitation. \u201cIf you talk to him for five seconds, you feel the weight of the burden of guilt that he carries with him every day,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

\"PhilPhil Ortiz was a 16-year-old sophomore at Santana High School when a shooter opened fire as Phil headed to class in March 2001. He and a friend, Kristen Dane, a former student, petitioned to keep him in prison in 2024. (Alejandro Tamayo \/ U-T file)<\/p>\n

For the community at large, the effects of the mass shooting continue to ripple, said former Santee Chamber of Commerce CEO Kristen Dare, who had been a student when she ran from the rampage. She has worked to oppose Williams\u2019 release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis town was victimized,\u201d Dare said Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re about to hit the 25-year mark, and it\u2019s still got scar tissue. Everybody remembers where they were that day, how they responded, who they knew, how it impacted them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sikora said she initially could not bear being on campus. But a few years ago, she started working at Santana High as an instructional aide and coaching its flag football team. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to let him win,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause, to me, living in fear allows him to win over my living.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case is slated for a status hearing in Juvenile Court on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victims and witnesses to the deadly Santana High School shooting in Santee nearly 25 years ago expressed disappointment…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":500504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,356,5295,20161,1370,728,50,3549,3550,7264,22788,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-500503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-courts","12":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","13":"tag-east-county","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-san-diego","18":"tag-san-diego-county","19":"tag-sandiego","20":"tag-santee","21":"tag-top-stories-sdut","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115857555782774209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}