Inset: William Bushey. Background: William Bushey’s shotgun that he used to blast his mom, sister and nephew being shown in court (KFMB/YouTube).
A California man has been found guilty of murdering his sister and nephew — blasting them both with a shotgun “nobody knew he had” along with his mother, who survived — after he flew into a “rage” over his family moving a Wi-Fi router out of his room, according to prosecutors.
“Where’s the internet?” asked William Bushey, 61, before he went on his shooting rampage, according to opening statements made by Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello at Bushey’s trial, per the Times of San Diego.
“That’s when the terror began,” Pirrello reportedly said.
Bushey was convicted of first-degree murder by a San Diego jury for killing his sister, Laurie Robinson, 61, and her son, Brett Robinson, 33, during a shooting on Aug. 21, 2024, at his home. He also seriously wounded his mother, June Bushey, who was 86 at the time after shooting her in the chest and hand, according to police, leading to the loss of three fingers.
“I ran like hell!” said June Bushey during Bushey’s trial, which happened earlier this month, according to the Times. “The neighbors were yelling at me to ‘keep down.'”
Prosecutors and Bushey’s mother outlined how he was known to play computer games all day long while the Wi-Fi router was in his room. June Bushey had been living with him for about 15 years and Laurie Robinson had moved in after separating from her husband.
Bushey carried out the shooting attack just nine days after his sister moved in.
“Sixty years of emotion, anger and resentment [that] exploded into seconds of unthinkable violence,” Deputy Public Defender Denis Lainez told jurors, while attempting to mount a defense that blamed Bushey’s family for provoking him.
Prosecutors said what prompted the bloodshed was the internet being shut off at Bushey’s home while his sister relocated the Wi-Fi router to his mother’s bedroom. An AT&T technician was confronted by him outside.
Bushey was known to have emotional outbursts in the past, according to prosecutors, which resulted in police being called multiple times to his home.
“He came out of his room, and he shot her,” June Bushey recalled at trial about how her son’s onslaught began. “I escaped from my room, down the front steps.”
The mom added, “I thought about calling the police, but I thought I would get shot.”
Lainez told jurors that Bushey was depressed, “angry” and “confused” after he tested positive for HIV, and was unemployed.
“I’m sick; I’m dying,” Lainez quoted his client as saying, according to the Times of San Diego. “I’m just a sick loser without a job.”
Lainez claimed that Bushey “didn’t mean to hurt” his mother and was wrestling with his nephew over the gun when he started blasting. “My entire life, I have refused to see doctors. I feel like nothing,” Lainez reportedly quoted Bushey as saying. “I am going to be homeless. I am filled with rage.”
Bushey is scheduled to be sentenced next month. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
