Gerald Jermaine “Buddha” Williams, a 21-year-old Black man, was killed in the early hours of Saturday, September 7, 2013, in New Orleans. The night turned violent around 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of North Rampart and Touro streets, where gunfire suddenly ripped into a small group of people standing in the street. Police said the shots came from the passenger side of a silver or gray Ford F-150 pickup truck that rolled up and opened fire before speeding away.
Williams died at the scene. Two other people who were with him were struck as well, but investigators said their injuries were not life-threatening, leaving them to carry the memory of those seconds after the truck pulled in and the passenger started shooting. As the neighborhood woke to flashing lights and the aftermath, detectives began piecing together a story built largely on what witnesses could recall: the color and model of the pickup, the position of the shooter, and the direction the vehicle fled.
In the days that followed, the loss sharpened into a different kind of grief as loved ones prepared to say goodbye. A death notice published in The Times-Picayune identified him as Gerald Jermaine Williams and noted he was known as “Buddha.” It described a homegoing celebration later that month and said he left behind children and a wide circle of family, including his parents and siblings.
As for who pulled the trigger and why, the public record in reporting about the shooting offered no name to attach to the gun, only the description of the vehicle and the shooter’s position inside it. At the time of the report, police said no arrests had been made, and the case remained centered on finding whoever was in that Ford F-150 when the shots were fired.
