Spree killer
From Exampleproblems
A spree killer is someone who embarks on a murderous rampage. This is a slightly ambiguous term, with similarities to mass murderer and serial killer.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders." Serial killers are different in that they have cooling off periods between attacks, while mass murderers typically stick to one location.
Spree killers
- Howard Unruh (1949)
- Charles Starkweather (1958)
- Charles Whitman (1966)
- James Oliver Huberty (the McDonald's massacre — 1984)
- Michael Robert Ryan (the Hungerford massacre — 1987)
- Julian Knight (the Hoddle Street massacre — 1987)
- Marc Lépine (the École Polytechnique Massacre — 1989)
- Julio Gonzalez (the Happyland Fire — 1990)
- David Gray (the Aramoana massacre — 1990)
- Valery Fabrikant - (1992)
- Colin Ferguson (1993)
- Thomas Hamilton (the Dunblane massacre — 1996)
- Martin Bryant (the Port Arthur massacre — 1996)
- Andrew Cunanan (1997)
- Carl Draga (1997)
- Mark O. Barton (1999)
- Benjamin Nathaniel Smith (1999)
- Columbine High School Massacre (1999)
- Prince Dipendra of Nepal (2001)
- Nikolay Soltys (2001)
- Friedrich Leibacher (2001)
- Jean-Pierre Roux-Durraffourt, streets of Tours, Indre-et-Loire - France (2001)
- Robert Steinhäuser (the Erfurt massacre — 2002)
- the Beltway Snipers (2002)
- the Interstate 270 Sniper (2003)
- Bart Ross, Chicago, Illinois, (2005)
- Brian Nichols, courtroom shooting, Atlanta (2005)
- Terry Ratzmann, churchyard shooting, Wisconsin, (2005)
- Jeff Weise, school shooting, Red Lake Chippewa Reservation, Minnesota (2005)
In many countries, the acts of spree killers have been catalysts for the tightening of gun control laws.
The only recently published study of spree killers was Lone Wolf, by Pan Pantziarka. This looked at individual cases, including Thomas Hamilton, Michael Ryan, Mark Barton etc. The book also discusses the wider social context, psychological factors and political fall-out from spree killing.
See also
Further reading
- Pan Pantziarka, Lone Wolf: True Stories of Spree Killers (non-fiction) (Virgin Books, ISBN 0753506173)
- Helen Zahavi, Dirty Weekend (fiction)fr:Tuerie
