Ex-Falcon player accused of aggravated assault 

Former Atlanta Falcons safety, William Moore, was arrested in Gwinnett County over the weekend on several charges including aggravated assault.  

According to his arrest warrants, Moore, 37,  is accused of shooting at and hitting a car occupied by a woman and two children at a Gwinnett park. No one was injured during the incident.

The shooting occurred last Sunday at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville around 6 p.m. Out of fear the victim has asked that she and the children not be publicly identified. According to the arrest warrant, a confrontation began between kids and escalated to the adults.

Moore is facing two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of third-degree cruelty to children and one count each of second-degree criminal damage to property and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, jail records show. 
Through his lawyer, Moore released a statement saying he fired at the woman’s tire to prevent her from backing up into his car, which his children were in at the time.

A video from the encounter shows Moore and an unidentified woman standing close to the victim’s car and shows Moore in an animated state as he tries to talk to the victim through her car window. The woman attempted to back up her car, but was blocked in by Moore’s vehicle. Moore then appears to fire at the vehicle.

Moore remains in jail without bond following his arrest.

In a statement, Moore’s lawyer, Matthew Crosby, said that Moore was attempting to talk to the woman who was with one of the kids involved in the confrontation. 

Moore parked his car behind hers and approached the driver’s-side window and said Moore pulled his gun to stop the woman from backing into his car that contained his children. 

His lawyer said, “William was terrified that his children would be seriously hurt or killed if he did not act immediately. So, he shot at her car’s tire and away from the occupants, attempting to disable her vehicle and prevent further deadly threats to his children.”

This is not the first arrest for the former NFL standout. He has been arrested multiple times in the metro Atlanta area since he became a second-round draft pick out of the University of Missouri in 2009. After he was caught speeding in Gwinnett in 2011, a bench warrant was issued for failure to appear.

Moore was arrested in Atlanta in 2013 on a simple battery charge after he got into an argument with a woman. He was accused of throwing her phone to the ground and grabbing her by the shoulder. By that time, Moore was an established starter with the Falcons who had played in the NFL Pro Bowl and signed a new contract the prior season.

Moore’s final season in the NFL was 2015.