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Pasco gunman slain in rush-hour shootout

Darting in front of and shooting at vehicles, he terrorizes a subdivision.

By NICOLE JOHNSON and JACOB H. FRIES
Published November 10, 2005

EAST LAKE - William Gordon was leaving the Grey Oaks subdivision Wednesday morning when neighbors flagged down his 2006 Porsche.

"Don't go out there," they told Gordon, 50, a certified financial planner. "There's a crazy guy with a gun at the entrance."

But Gordon drove on, seeing the end of a bizarre shootout just outside Grey Oaks' wrought-iron gates. As he watched, Pinellas County sheriff's Cpl. Kent Johnson used a department-issued carbine rifle to shoot a shirtless, shoeless gunman who had been firing on two deputies.

"You can hear a loud scream, a kind of groan, as he went to the ground," Gordon said.

James Guy Lambert, 34, of New Port Richey died at the scene, authorities said. No one else was hurt, though officials said Lambert fired many times, hitting a sheriff's cruiser and a passing car carrying a babysitter and young child.

Little is known about what sparked Lambert's rampage or why he chose Grey Oaks as his stage.

But calls about a partially clothed man with a cape running in and out of traffic on East Lake Road were authorities' first signs that something was wrong.

Tow truck driver Aaron Watkins said he encountered Lambert as he left Grey Oaks, where his uncle lives.

Watkins, 20, who partly owns and operates Tokay Towing, said he had to slam on his brakes because Lambert jumped in front of his truck. Lambert wore no shirt or shoes but had on a cape that looked like it was fashioned from a hurricane tarp.

"I rolled down the window and said, "What are you doing?' And he goes, "I don't know what's going on!' " Watkins said.

"I thought he was on drugs," Watkins said. "I didn't want him to hurt anyone."

Sheriff's Deputy David E. Webb arrived in the area at 8:24 a.m., said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner. Webb saw what authorities believe was Lambert's abandoned red Ford Ranger with tools and a ladder parked on the east side of East Lake Road across from the subdivision.

Then Grey Oaks resident Eric Spicher, who had just returned from taking his children to school, pointed Webb to the west side of East Lake Road.

Spicher said he had seen a shirtless man who was hiding in flower beds and shrubs near Grey Oaks' entrance.

"The guy was like Rambo running in the middle of the street hiding," Spicher said.

When Webb, 47, drove up to the subdivision, Lambert began firing a .40-caliber Glock handgun at the deputy's marked cruiser.

One bullet entered the windshield of the deputy's 2000 Ford Crown Victoria at forehead level. Two others struck the hood and the radiator, disabling the car. Still another round hit the rear tire of a white Pontiac Grand Am that a babysitter was driving out of the subdivision, authorities said.

Webb called for backup, got out of his cruiser and kneeled behind the car while returning fire with his .45-caliber Glock handgun.

After emptying the magazine of his gun, Lambert crossed to the south side of Grey Oaks Boulevard and began to reload the gun, officials said.

Johnson parked his Ford Expedition on the west side of East Lake Road, then crossed the road on foot to help Webb.

Once he crossed Grey Oaks Boulevard, Lambert began shooting at the two deputies, officials said.

As the three men exchanged a volley of gunshots, rush-hour traffic zoomed by less than 100 yards away.

"I just hightailed it to the entryway," said Gordon, who said he kept driving out of concern for his wife and 8-year-old son, who had left home minutes before. "I got within about 20 yards of the gate and I could hear gunshots, pop, pop, pop."

Johnson shot Lambert with a .223-caliber carbine rifle from 65 to 80 yards away, officials said. Paramedics pronounced Lambert dead, his half-clothed body lying sprawled out under a tree.

It was not clear how many shots were fired by Lambert or the deputies.

"At this time we're not sure how many times he was hit," Bordner said.

Neither Johnson, who has been with the department for 27 years nor Webb, who has worked with the agency 21 years, has been involved in a previous shooting, said sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen.

Both deputies were placed on paid nondisciplinary administrative leave in accordance with agency policy.

It was not Lambert's first run-in with the law.

He was arrested in Pinellas County last year on charges of possessing cocaine and marijuana, but prosecutors decided not to pursue the case, records show.

In 1993, he was found guilty of driving under the influence, reckless driving and fleeing and eluding. His license was revoked for six months and he was ordered to serve community service.

Lambert's last address was 7015 Astor Drive in New Port Richey, which is also the address of Lambert Property Maintenance, according to records.

A woman identified as Lambert's mother answered her door in Holiday on Wednesday afternoon but declined to comment about her son or what happened.

"She's sick over it," said Lambert's stepfather, Jack Hannon. Lambert was her only son.

Lambert was single and had no children, Hannon said. He and Lambert's mother, whose name was not available, had not been in close touch with Lambert recently and did not know where he had been living.

They knew Lambert was troubled and had hoped he would come around, Hannon said. "She knew that he was unhappy."

Times researchers Carolyn Edds and Angie Drobnic Holan, reporter Steve Thompson and photographer Douglas R. Clifford contributed to this report. Jacob H. Fries can be reached at (727) 445-4156. Nicole Johnson can be reached at (727) 445-4162.

[Last modified November 10, 2005, 01:20:16]