Feds: Grand Rapids ‘career criminal’ sentenced to years in prison

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids man accused of shooting into an occupied restaurant in 2022 will spend years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan announced Tuesday.

Rundy Lamar Williams, 35, has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to a release from the office.

In July of 2023, Williams — who had active warrants for his arrest, in addition to prior felony convictions that meant he was not allowed to have a firearm — was a passenger in a car that was stopped by the Grand Rapids Police Department, the release says. According to the attorney’s office, Williams hid a loaded pistol in the leg of his pants and showed officers fake identification to conceal his identity.

More than a year before that encounter, Williams and another person allegedly fired multiple rounds into an occupied restaurant, the attorney’s office says.

It happened on the evening of May 5, 2022, at Wing Heaven, located on Eastern Avenue SE near Burton Street SE. Police said two people got out of a vehicle and started shooting. No victims were found, but the restaurant was temporarily forced to shut its doors.

“Williams has been charged by the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office for his role in this shooting and is presumed innocent of these charges until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” the attorney’s office wrote in a release.

Williams was arrested on these charges, but after he was released on bond, he failed to appear in court, the office says.

Officials say Williams was ultimately taken into custody on Feb. 8, 2024, after an hourslong standoff at a home in Grand Rapids.

News 8 reported on a standoff that day on the 1700 block of Newark Avenue SE near Orville Street, which began around 1:40 p.m. and didn’t end until nearly four hours later.

The attorney’s office says police had to deploy chemical agents to get Williams to exit the home.

In a statement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge James Deir described Williams as “a career criminal.”

“Mr. Williams is believed to have been involved in an incident that could have resulted in mass casualties,” Deir said. “Simply put, firing rounds into an occupied restaurant is a really bad choice and reprehensible. Our communities deserve better from its members and will be a safer place with Mr. Williams behind bars.”

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