Spree killer: Difference between revisions

"Killing Spree" redirects here. See Killing Spree‎ for the film of that name.

A spree killer, also known as a rampage killer, is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on his or her victims (two or more) in a short time in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders."^[1] According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the general definition of spree murder is two or more murders committed by an offender or offenders, without a cooling-off period; the lack of a cooling-off period marking the difference between a spree murder and a serial murder. The category has however been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of a "cooling-off period".^[2] Serial killers are different in that the murders are clearly separate events, happening at different times, while the attacks of mass murderers are defined by one incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders.^[2]

Notably large spree killings include:

United States

• Starkweather/Fugate murders (United States, 1958): Charles Starkweather and his adolescent girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate murdered 11 people over the course of eight days before being apprehended by police. Starkweather was executed in 1959 and Fugate was imprisoned until 1976.

• University of Texas at Austin massacre (United States, 1966): Charles Whitman, a student at the University of Texas at Austin killed 14 people and wounded 31 others as part of a shooting rampage from the observation deck of the University's 32-story administrative building. He did this shortly after murdering his wife and mother. He was eventually shot and killed by an Austin police officer.

• The Casanova Killer (United States, 1974): Paul John Knowles, after a close friend rejected his marriage proposal, murdered 18 people in a statewide killing spree across northern Florida. After his apprehension in Georgia, Knowles was shot to death during an attempt to commandeer the police cruiser he was riding in the back of.

• George Moscone–Harvey Milk assassinations (United States, 1978): Former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk at close range. White was angry that Moscone had refused to re-appoint him to his seat on the Board of Supervisors, which White had just resigned, and that Milk had lobbied heavily against his re-appointment. White was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than of first degree murder, which sparked the "White Night riots" in San Francisco. It also led to the urban legend of the "Twinkie defense," as many media reports had incorrectly described the defense as having attributed White's diminished capacity to the effects of sugar-laden junk food.^[3][4]

• Briley Brothers (United States, 1979): Anthony Ray Briley, James "J.B." Briley, Jr. and Linwood Briley, all brothers, murdered ten people over the course of seven months, typically using guns and knives. James and Linwood Briley were put to death in the Virginia State Penitentiary electric chair, while Anthony Briley remains incarcerated.

• Beltway sniper attacks (United States, 2002): 41-year old John Allen Muhammad and 17-year old Lee Boyd Malvo killed 10 and injured several others over the course of three weeks before their apprehension. Muhammad was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed November 10th, 2009. Malvo is currently serving six consecutive life sentences.

• Red Lake massacre (United States, 2005): Jeff Weise shot and killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend, both police officers. He then proceeded to a local high school and shot and killed a security guard. Once inside the school Weise shot and killed five students and a teacher before committing suicide. Weise killed 9 and injured 15.

• Virginia Tech massacre (United States, 2007): Seung-Hui Cho, using two pistols, killed 32 in two separate events and then himself in the course of about three hours.

• Geneva County massacre (United States, 2009): Michael McLendon using SKS rifle, Bushmaster AR-15, and .38-caliber handgun killed 10 on 10 March and before shooting himself.

• Fort Hood shooting (United States, 2009): Nidal Malik Hasan murdered thirteen people and wounded 30 more at the Fort Hood military base with an FN Five-seven semi-automatic pistol and a .357 Magnum revolver. Hasan is currently standing trial for the shooting and, if convicted, is eligible for the death penalty.

Australia

• Port Arthur massacre (Australia, 1996): Martin Bryant, using an AR-15 and an L1A1 SLR, killed 35 and injured 19 in five hours before being arrested by the Special Operations Group of the Tasmanian Police.

China

• Tian Mingjian incident (China, 1994): Tian Mingjian, using a Type 81 rifle killed 23 people near Tiananmen Square on September 20, including an Iranian diplomat and his son. He was finally shot dead by a police sniper.

Germany

• Winnenden school shooting (Germany, 2009): 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, using a Beretta 92FS, killed 15 on March 11 in two separate locations before shooting himself. Among the victims were mostly female classmates and pedestrians.

Japan

• Tsuyama massacre (Japan, 1938): Mutsuo Toi, using a shotgun and swords, killed 30^[5] and then himself in an hour and a half.

Nepal

• Nepalese royal massacre (Nepal, 2001): Crown Prince of Nepal Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah murdered nine relatives with an M16 assault rifle and MP5K submachine gun before turning one of the guns on himself. Three days later, Dipendra died while in a coma.

South Korea

• Uireyeong massacre (South Korea, 1982): Woo Bum-kon, a disgruntled police officer, killed 57 and then himself in eight hours, using two M2 carbines and hand grenades. 35 people were also wounded.

Switzerland

• Zug massacre (Switzerland, 2001): Friedrich Leibacher, armed with an assault rife, pump action shotgun, and two pistols, opened fire at the Zug parliament, murdering 14 politicians before his suicide.

Ukraine

• Dnepropetrovsk maniacs (Ukraine, 2007): An unusual group murder spree. Viktor Sayenko, Alexander Hanzha and Igor Suprunyuck, all 19, went on several murder sprees, claiming 21 victims in one month and videotaping most murders. Two victims were murdered within minutes of each other on June 25; two more on July 1, three on July 7, and two each on the 14th, 15 and 16 July, 2007.

United Kingdom

• Hungerford massacre (United Kingdom, 1987): Michael Robert Ryan, using two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, killed 16 people and wounded 15 others in a space of 7 hours before shooting himself.

• Mass murder
• Going postal
• Running amok
• Thrill killing
• Active shooter
• List of mass murderers and spree killers by number of victims