Thursday 25 June 2015

A Study In Shooting Sprees

 

So I looked up all the shooting sprees I could find in the US, the first one is actually a dynamite spree but I thought it should get a mention just for being so fucking out there. I tried to keep the facts to a minimum with the date, place, name of the shooter/s and what kind of weapon they had if I could get that info.The deaths do not include any shooters, just their victims and many of these shooters are still alive today.
A shooting spree in this instance is the killing of 3 more more people with a firearm being one of the weapons used, if there are only 2 victims then the shooter had tried for more or killed themselves. I'm sure I've missed some sprees that were treated more like murder than a spree.

I had it in my head that most of the shooters would be young white males but there are middle aged and older gents as well as black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American, even two women are in the list though one claims that her boyfriend did all the shooting.
During my research when I was expecting to find loads of crazy white dudes I was surprised to find more shooters of colour than I had expected. I didn't skew my findings I looked for every US shooting spree I could, these are just the facts, take what you will from them.

More civilians become shooters than those who have served in the military.  Two civilian people who tried to intervene in two separate shootings, one armed and one not were both killed which puts a stop to the 'if we were armed we'd be safe' argument as no one is safe.

Everything relies on how calm you are, how skilled with a gun you are and how lucky you are. More murders are committed with handguns than with rifles and shotguns according to FBI figures .

Kehoe and his wife, before they were blown up obviously. 

May 1927, Michigan, Andrew Philip Kehoe an angry farmer killed 43 people (including 38 children) at the Bath elementary school in Michigan with dynamite.
 


Aug 1928 Fairfield California, Leung Yeung, 29 killed 11 people with a hatchet and a lever action rifle. 

Unruh used his war trophy to kill with as he went for a walk. 

Sept, 1949 Camden, New Jersey, 28-year-old Howard Unruh, a World War II vet kills 13 people  German Luger pistol.

Dec 1957 - Jan 1958 Nebraska and Wyoming, Charles Raymond Starkweather 20, and Caril Ann Fugate, 14 went on a two-month murder spree killing 11 people and 2 dogs, they were armed with a 22 rifle, shotgun and a handgun. Movies and songs have been made about this pair.


August, 1966 Austin, Texas, Charles Joseph Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, stabs his wife and mother and kills a further 14 from the University of Texas tower with his M1 carbine.

Jan, 1973  New Orleans, Navy vet Mark James Robert Essex 23, armed with a Ruger 44 magnum and a 38 cal revolver killed 9 people.

 He killed while doing Woody Allen impressions ..... pure evil. 

March 1975 Ohio, James Urban Ruppert 41, armed with a 357 magnum, two 22 cal handguns and a rifle killed 11 in what is known as the Easter Sunday Massacre.

August, 1982  Miami, 51-year-old history teacher Carl Robert Brown who had a dishonorable discharge from the Navy, kills 8 people with his 12 gauge shotgun.


Sep, 1982 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 40-year-old George Banks, kills 13 people including five of his own children with a Colt AR-15.


July, 1984 San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Huberty, armed with an  Uzi 9 mil carbine, a Winchester pump-action shotgun and a 9 mil Browning handgun shoots and kills 21 adults and children at a local McDonalds.

August, 1986 Edmond, Oklahoma, part-time mail carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill, with 2 Remington M1911 handguns and a Ruger 22 pistol kills 14 postal workers in 10 minutes.


Dec, 1987 Arkansas, Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr an air force vet armed with a hammer, crowbar, rope and two 22 handguns killed 16 people.
  

Sept, 1989 Louisville, Kentucky, 47-year-old Joseph Wesbecker armed with a AK-47 assault rifle, two MAC-11 semi-automatic pistols, a .38 cal handgun, a 9-mil semi-automatic pistol and a bayonet kills 8 co-workers at Standard Gravure Corporation.


June, 1990 Jacksonville, Florida, 42-year-old James Pough, opens fire with a 38 revolver and an M1 carbine at a General Motors Acceptance Corp. office, killing 9. The day before he killed a pimp and a hooker.


Oct, 1991 Killeen, Texas, 35-year-old George Hennard with a Glock 17 and a Ruger P89 kills 23 at a Lubys Cafeteria.

July, 1993 San Francisco, 55-year-old Gian Luigi Ferri armed with 2 Tec-9 machine pistols and a Norinco NP44 handgun kills 8 people in a law office.


April 20, 1999 Columbine, Colorado, Eric David Harris, 18 and Dylan Bennet Klebold 17, armed with a 995 carbine, a Savage pump action shotgun, a Tec9 machine pistol, a sawn off shotgun and explosives killed 12 students and one teacher at the Columbine High school.  

July, 1999 Atlanta, 44-year-old Mark Barton kills his wife and two children with a hammer at his home. Then opens fire in two different houses killing 9 people using a Colt 1911, Glock 17, 22 revolver and a Raven .25 handgun.



Sept, 1999 Fort Worth Texas, Larry Gene Ashbrook 47, armed with a Ruger P85 and a 38 cal pistol and a pipe bomb killed 7 people at a Christian rock concert.

OMG the po po have nicked Hagrid.

Dec, 2000 Wakefield Massachusetts, Naval vet Michael McDermott armed with a Winchester shotgun, 32 cal pistol and an AK-47 type weapon killed 7 of his coworkers at Edgewater Technology.

Dec 2000 Wichita Kansas, brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr killed 5 people and a dog.

Malvo left and Muhammad right.

Feb 2002 - Sept 2003 Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC, Army vet John Allen Muhammad 42 and Lee Boyd Malvo 17 used a Bushmaster .223 cal rifle to kill 10 people.  
 

July , 2003 Meridian Mississippi, Doug Williams 48, armed with a Winchester shotgun and a Ruger mini-14 carbine killed 7 people.


August 2003 West Virginia, Shawn Lester killed 3 people with a 22 rifle.


Feb 2005 Texas, David Hernandez Arroyo, Sr armed with an AK-47 killed 2 people (including his ex-wife) before police shot him.

Super creep, super creep, he's super creepy.

March  2005 Wisconsin, Terry Michael Ratzmann 44, armed with a 9 mil Beretta handgun killed 7 members of the Living Church of God at a Sheraton hotel.


March , 2005 Minnesota, Jeffrey Weise 16, killed 8 people with a Glock 23 40 cal pistol, a Ruger 22 cal pistol and a Remington 870 shotgun.


Jan, 2006 Goleta California, Jennifer San Marco 44, killed 7 people with a S&W 9 mil handgun.


March, 2006 Seattle, Washington, 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff  armed with a Winchester shotgun and a Ruger P944 40 cal handgun killed 6 people.


Oct, 2006 Pennsylvania, 32-year-old Charles Carl Roberts armed with a Springfield 9 mil handgun, a Browning pump action shotgun and a Ruger bolt action rifle killed 5 girls at an Amish schoolhouse.

Feb, 2007 Salt Lake City  Utah, Sulejman Talovic 18, armed with a Mossberg 88 field shotgun and a S&W 38 cal revolver killed 5 people.



April, 2007 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. 23-year-old student Seung-Hui Cho armed with a Glock 19 and a Walther P22 killed 32 people.

 A clueless looking long faced young man. 

Dec, 2007 Omaha, Nebraska, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins goes to a mall with an AK-47 type weapon and kills 8.

Feb, 2008 Kirkwood, Missouri Charles Lee Thornton 52, armed with a S&W 44 magnum and a S&W 40 cal hangun killed 6 people.


Feb, 2008 Illinois,  Steven Kazmierczak, 27, armed with a  Remington shotgun, Glock 19 handgun and a Sig Saur P230 handgun kills 6 in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. 


March , 2009,  Alabama, Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, armed with a Soviet-made SKS, a Bushmaster AR-15, a 12 gauge shotgun and a .38 caliber pistol killed 10 people.


March, 2009 Carthage, North Carolina, 45-year-old Robert Stewart with a 357 magnum revolver, a 22 Magnum pistol and a Winchester 12 gauge shotgun kills a nurse and 7 elderly patients at a nursing home.
March, 2009 Oakland California, Lovelle Mixon 26, killed 4 police officers with a SKS carbine and a 9 mil pistol. 

April, 2009 Binghamton, New York,  Jiverly Wong, 41, armed with a 9 mil Beretta handgun and a 45 cal Beretta handgun killed 13.
 

Nov, 2009 Fort Hood Texas, Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan armed with a FN Five-seven pistol kills 13.


Jan, 2010 Virginia, Christopher Speight, 39, kills 8 people with a high-powered rifle.


August, 2010  Manchester, Connecticut, Omar Thornton with 2 Ruger SR9 handguns kills 8 co-workers at Hartford Distributors.

Jan, 2011 Arizona, Jared Loughner, 22, opened fire with a Glock 19 at a Safeway market in Tucson, Arizona, 6 people died totally not including politician Gabrielle Giffords who was injured with a shot to the head.  

July, 2011 Michigan, Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, 34 killed 7 with a Glock 19 9 mil handgun.


Sept, 2011 Nevada, Eduardo Sencion, 32, killed 5 people with a Chinese made AK-47 at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City.

Oct, 2011 Seal Beach, California  Scott Evans Dekraai, 41 armed with a Springfield 9 mil handgun, a 44 magnum revolver and a 45 cal H&K handgun killed 8 at the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach.


Feb, 2012 Ohio, Thomas "TJ" Lane 17,  killed 3 students at Chardon High School with a Ruger Mark III 22 cal pistol.


April, 2012 Oakland California, 43-year-old One L. Goh armed with a 45 cal handgun killed 7 people at a Korean Christian college.


April, 2012 Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, shot dead 3 people. 


May, 2012 Seattle Washington, Ian Lee Stawicki 40, killed 5 people at the Cafe Racer with a 45 cal handgun.

 Yes he is from Futurama.

July, 2012 Aurora, Colorado, James E. Holmes, 24, armed with a Smith & Wesson MP15 (their AR-15 version) a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and two 22 cal Glock handguns killed 12 people at a movie theater.

 He might have been a white supremacist.

August, 2012 Wisconsin,  40-year-old Wade Michael Page a US army vet armed with a Springfield made handgun killed 6 at a Sikh temple.


Sept, 2012 Minneapolis, 36-year-old Andrew Engeldinger killed 6 with a Glock 19 handgun at Accent Signage Systems.

Flat brim, sticker on underside .... a killer and a douchebag.

Dec, 2012 Clackamas Oregon, Jacob Tyler Robert 22, killed 2 people then himself with a Stag -15 (AR-15 type) rifle.

  A clueless looking long faced young man. 

Dec, 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza, 20, shoots his mother then armed with a Bushmaster Model XM15-E2S rifle and a Glock 17 kills 20 children a 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School .

Feb, 2013 California, Christopher Dorner, 33, armed with assault rifles, a sniper rifle and pistols killed 4 people. 



June 2013 Santa Monica California, 23-year-old John Zawahri armed with an AR-15 type rifle and a Remington model 1858 revolver killed 5 people. Who did he want to kill with the revolver, Jesse James? 


Sept 16, 2013 Washington Navy Yard, Navy vet Aaron Alexis, 34 armed with a Remington Model 870 shotgun and a Beretta 92SS 9 mil handgun kills 12.

Perspective 

10,076 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in 2013 according to MADD  in fact 28 people are killed in drunk driving crashes EVERY DAY across the US. Maybe they should regulate cars and make you have a permit or something since they are so dangerous.  

565 people die each year from trips, slips and falls .... that is close to the amount of people killed by spree shooters since 1927 which is 541, my amounts do not include any of the shooters.   

In 2006, 618 murders committed with hammers and clubs. In 2011 that number was 496.  Deaths by unarmed combat is usually 800 - 900 cases a year. 

When you look at gun statistics you also have to count in the estimated 22,000 suicides and accidental shootings that occur annually, these figures tend to end up in the gun deaths pile.

Switzerland is often cited as having lots of guns yet a low homicide rate, well it's lower than the US at 6.4 firearm deaths per 100,000 population per year while the US is at 10.27 but higher than others. Switzerland also has very strict gun control with you having to apply for a license 4 times a year.  They just had a spree shooting in May 2015 that left 5 including the shooter dead.
 

April 2014, Fort Hood Texas, Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, 34 armed with a S&W 45 cal pistol killed 3 people.

 
 I think it might have been a hate crime. Saddam called, he wants his porn tache back.

April 2014 Kansas, ex Green Beret and former political candidate and KKK Grand Dragon, Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr 73, armed with a Remington 870 shotgun, and a handgun killed 3 people at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom.

Smug crazy fucker alert!

May, 2014 Isla Vista California, Elliot Rodger 22, killed 6 people while armed with  knives, a Glock 34 handgun and 2 Sig Sauer P226 pistols.


June 2014 Vegas Nevada, Jerad and Amanda Miller armed with a 9 mil Smith & Wesson MP, a Ruger 38 revolver a Winchester shotgun and two handguns taken from victims killed 3 people before they were killed.


Dec, 2014 Pennsburg Pennsylvania, Bradley William Stone 35, armed with a 40 cal Heckler & Koch handgun and a 9 mil Beretta killed 6 people. Why are gingers allowed to own guns?


Feb 2015 Tyrone Missouri, 36-year-old Joseph Jesse Aldridge armed with a 45 cal handgun killed 7 people.

June 2015 South Carolina, Dylann Roof armed with a 45 cal Glock handgun killed 9 people.

Now the United Kingdom's list of shooting sprees. I have not included the Troubles of Northern Ireland. Funny how the Northern Ireland terrorists always seem to manage to get guns though, while the rest of us can't.


October 1978 West Bromwich, Harry Street killed 5 people in a shooting spree. He was released from prison in 1994 because the UK doesn't do punishment for crimes but then he was locked up in 2013 after a stash of guns and bomb making equipment was found in his house. He was becoming obsessed with his neighbours, similar behaviour to what he was having before his spree. He may never be released again but this is the UK so never say never.  


August 1985 Essex, Jeremy Bamber killed 5 of his family with a 22 rifle. There is a website stating his innocence .... just as there is one for Scot Peterson who killed his wife Laci and their unborn child. Lots of innocent people in prison. 


August 1987 Hungerford, Michael Robert Ryan armed with a Chinese type AK-47, M1 carbine and a Beretta 92 killed 16 people.

This shooting changed the law and banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricted the use of shotguns that take more than 3 shells. 

March 1996 Dunblane, Thomas Hamilton 43, armed with a 9 mil Browning HP pistol and a S&W 357 magnum killed 16 primary school children and their teacher.

The law changed again and private ownership of handguns was made illegal in the United Kingdom. 


July 2006 Newcastle-upon Tyne, ex soldier David Bradley killed 4 people with a silenced handgun. He obviously didn't get the memo about handguns being made illegal 10 years previously and he also had a pump action shotgun, so much for laws. 


June 2010 Cumbria, Derrick Bird 52, armed with a double barreled shotgun and a 22 bolt action rifle killed 12 people.

If people don't have guns then they use arson or knives but it isn't as easy as with a gun. 21 year-old teacher Lisa Potts saved her children from a machete wielding nutter who almost severed her arm. Even with the laws changed you see that the creeps still get the guns or switch to hammers.   The no brainer point is that fewer guns means less gun violence. 



2 comments:

Stephen Barnes said...

Gabrielle Giffords didn't die in the attack - yea, she was shot in the head, but she's still with us...

Old Knudsen said...

That's awkward.