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] [edit] Notable large spree killings | | This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (October 2009) | Notable large spree killings include: United States
- Starkweather/Fugate rampage (United States, 1958): Charles Starkweather and his adolescent girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate murdered eleven people over the course of eight days before being apprehended by police. Starkweather was executed 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.
- 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.
Canada United Kingdom Germany - Cologne school massacre (Germany, 1964): On the day of his 42nd birthday, Walter Seifert entered a primary school in Volkhoven, Cologne armed with a flamethrower, lance, and homemade mace. After murdering 11 people and injuring twice as many, Seifert was taken into police custody where he died the next morning from a poisonous insecticide ingested after the killings[3].
- Erfurt massacre (Germany, 2002): Robert Steinhäuser changed into a ninja outfit and armed with 9mm Glock 17 pistol and a pump action shotgun, went to the school from which he'd recently been expelled, killed sixteen people; comprising 13 faculty members, 2 students, and one police officer, before committing suicide.
Finland - Jokela school shooting (Finland, 2007): 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, fatally shot eight people with a semi-automatic pistol, before shooting himself in the head. The morning of the incident, Auvinen posted a video on YouTube announcing the massacre at the school.
- Kauhajoki school massacre (Finland, 2008): 22-year-old culinary arts student Matti Juhani Saari, shot and killed 10 people with a semi-automatic pistol, before shooting himself in the head. The incident was the second school shooting in less than a year in Finland. Before that, only one other school shooting had taken place in the country's history.
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.
Australia New Zealand Japan South Korea China Iraq - Haditha massacre (Iraq, 2005): US marines, killed 15 civilians in a residential area of Haditha. There was an initial cover up of this incident by the US marines who stated the deaths of the civilians were caused by a roadside bombing, but a criminal investigation was conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) after the indiscriminate shootings by the US marines were brought to light.
[edit] See also [edit] References - ^ Charalambous, Nick, and Meryl Dillman. "No evidence of spree killer yet, police say". The Anderson Independent-Mail (Anderson, South Carolina), December 17, 2006. Accessed 8 July 2008.
- ^ a b Morton, Robert J., and Mark A. Hilts (eds.) Serial Murder — Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed 4 July 2009.
- ^ http://www.ursula-kuhr-schule.de/Chronik/Attentat/Attentat.html
- ^ 津山三十人殺し―日本犯罪史上空前の惨劇 (Akira Tsukuba, 2001) ISBN 4102901280.
[edit] Further reading |
