September 11 attacks
2,977 dead, 33,000+ wounded
Date: September 11, 2001
Target(s): World Trade Center (North and South Towers), The Pentagon, a field in rural Pennsylvania, and public transportation (planes)
Location(s): Manhattan, New York; Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania; The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia
Weapon(s): Knives, Planes
Perpetrator(s): Waleed M. Al-Shehri, Wail M. Al-Shehri, Mohamed Atta, Abdulaziz Al-Omari, Satam M. A. Al-Suqami, Marwan Al-Shehhi, Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan Al-Qadi Banihammad, Mohand Al-Shehri, Hamza Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Khalid Al-Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf Al-Hazmi, Salem Al-Hazmi, Hani Hanjour, Ahmad Ibrahim A. Al-Haznawi, Ahmed Al-Nami, Ziad Samir Jarrah, and Saeed Al-Ghamdi
Jonestown massacre
918 dead, 35 wounded
Date: November 18, 1978
Target(s): an air strip, The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ’s headquarters building in Georgetown
Location(s): Port Kaituma, Georgetown and Jonestown, Guyana
Weapon(s): Cyanide (907 dead), Guns (7 dead), Knives (4 dead)
Perpetrator(s): Jim Jones, Annie Moore, Sharon Amos, among other cult members
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
307 dead (including 241 US military personnel), 150+ wounded (including 115 Americans)
Date: October 23, 1983
Target(s): United States Marine Corps barracks at the Beirut Airport and the Drakkar barracks of the French 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment and 9th Chasseur Regiment
Location(s): Beirut and Ramlet al Baida, Lebanon
Weapon(s): two truck bombs
Perpetrator(s): Ismalal/Ismail Ascari and another unidentified bomber.
Pan Am Flight 103
270 dead (259 died in the plane, 11 died on the ground)
Date: December 21, 1988
Target(s): commercial aircraft
Location: Lockerbie, Scotland (landed)
Weapon: Bomb, Plane
Perpetrator: Abdelbaset Al-Meghrani
1998 United States embassy bombings
224 dead (12 Americans killed), 4,000+ wounded
Date: August 7, 1998
Target(s): United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya
Location(s): Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Weapon(s): two truck bombs
Perpetrator(s): Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, Azzam and Hamden Khalif Allah Awad
EgyptAir Flight 990
217 dead
Date: October 31, 1999
Target: commercial airliner
Location: Atlantic Ocean, about 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (landed)
Weapon: Plane, Water/Drowning (Ocean)
Perpetrator: Gameel Al-Batouti
Oklahoma City bombing
168 dead, 680+ wounded
Date: April 19, 1995
Target: Alfred P. Murrah federal building
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Weapon: truck bomb
Perpetrator: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
Our Lady of the Angels School fire
95 dead
Date: December 1, 1958
Target: Our Lady of the Angels School
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Weapon: Matches/Fire
Perpetrator: A 10-year-old boy (Philip A. Decker)
Waco siege
88 dead (including 2 unborn and 4 ATF), 14 - 28 ATF agents wounded (sources vary), only about 50 Branch Davidians survived the siege and fire (with only 9 surviving the fire)
Date(s): February 28 - April 19, 1993
Target: Mount Carmel Center
Location: Waco, Texas
Weapon(s): Fire (33 dead), Guns (32 dead), Undetermined (18 dead), Blunt Force (4 dead), Stabbing (1 dead)
Perpetrator(s): David Koresh and his followers / ATF
Happy Land fire
87 dead, 6 wounded
Date: March 25, 1990
Target: Happy Land social club
Location: Bronx, New York
Weapon: Fire (Gasoline)
Perpetrator: Julio Gonzalez
1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut
64 dead, 120 wounded
Date: April 18, 1983
Target: United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Weapon: car bomb
Perpetrator(s): Unknown. Imad Mughniyah was alleged to have responsibility for this particular bombing, however this has been disputed. According to his Wikipedia article:
“U.S. and Israeli officials have implicated Mughniyeh of many terrorist attacks, primarily against American and Israeli targets. These include 18 April 1983 bombing of the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 63 people including 17 Americans whom among them were 7 CIA officers which included Robert Ames the head of Near East Division. Agreement is not entirely universal on Mughniyeh’s involvement, and Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense at the time of the attack, told PBS in 2001, “We still do not have the actual knowledge of who was directly behind and responsible for the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon and we certainly didn’t then."”
1992 Los Angeles riots
63 dead, 2,383 wounded
Date(s): April 29 - May 4, 1992
Target(s): Supermarkets and other business stores (including video stores, shoe stores, auto part stores, check cashing stores, five and dime stores, etc.), city streets and intersections, residential neighborhoods, parking lots, gas stations and liquor stores, apartment complexes, etc.
Location(s): Los Angeles County, California (mostly); 3 died in San Diego (South Park); 1 in Fresno (Del Rey)
Weapon(s): 40 by gunfire (including 5 who were shot by police), 23 by other causes; including 1 by strangulation, 2 stabbed, 8 vehicle-related, 2 from blunt force-related injuries, 2 were beaten to death, 3 from fire, 3 unknown, 1 from a fall and 1 from a heart attack
Perpetrator(s): Odell Whitley Jr., Leonard Hampton and another unnamed teen(?) (Lucie Maronian; stabbed), Aniceto Barajas (Jose L. Garcia; shot), Mario E. Olivera (George Alvarez; beaten), Three suspects, including a 17-year-old (Paul Horace; shot), Akim Dashawn Gilmore (Alfred V. Miller; shot), Traville J. Craig (Elias G. Rivera; blunt force), Fidel Ortiz and Leonard Sosa (Wallace Tope; beaten), three men, two of whom were teenagers (Matthew D. Haines; shot), 15-year-old boy (Juana Espinosa; shot), Samiee Farzan (Imad Sharaf; fire), Andre Webb and Lavelle "Frog” Williams (Charles Orebo; shot), most others no charges were ever brought against, because they were either unrelated to the riot (one person died with a cigarette in his mouth while he slept that burned the house down) or no arrests were made because, as according to the Chief Spokesman Bob Dambacher, “Would this person have died at that particular time and that particular place if riots had not occurred?” Was the criteria for his office. Also because some of them were by police/self-defense, were accidents or because the crimes were unsolved (22 - 23+ cases still remain unsolved to this day). Or at least I couldn’t find any articles naming the suspects for many of them.
2017 Las Vegas shooting
58 dead, 851 wounded (422 by gunfire)
Date: October 1, 2017
Target: Route 91 Harvest music festival
Location: Paradise, Nevada
Weapon(s): 24 firearms
Perpetrator: Stephen Paddock
Orlando nightclub shooting
49 dead, 53 wounded
Date: June 12, 2016
Target: Pulse nightclub
Location: Orlando, Florida
Weapon(s): Sig Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol
Perpetrator: Omar Mateen
USS Iowa turret explosion
47 dead
Date: April 19, 1989
Target: a United States Navy battleship
Location: Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Puerto Rico
Weapon: powder bags packed inside a gun turret detonated by either an electronic or chemical detonator
Perpetrator: Clayton Hartwig
Continental Airlines Flight 11
45 dead
Date: May 22, 1962
Target: public transportation (planes)
Location: a clover field in Union Township, Putnam County, Missouri near Unionville, Missouri (landed)
Weapon: bomb (dynamite)
Perpetrator: Thomas G. Doty
United Airlines Flight 629
44 dead
Date: November 1, 1955
Target: public transportation (plane)
Location: Longmont, Colorado (landed)
Weapon: bomb (dynamite)
Perpetrator: Jack Gilbert Graham
Attica prison riot
43 dead, 91 wounded
Date: September 9 - 13, 1971
Target: Attica Correctional Facility
Location: Attica, New York
Weapon(s): beating with what was described as “wooden objects” (1 dead), shanks (3 dead) and firearms (39 dead)
Perpetrator(s): Charles J. Pernasilice and John Hill (Officer Quinn), Mariano Gonzalez (inmate Michael Privitiera), Bernard Stroble, Eric Thompson, Herbert X. Blyden, Roger Champen and Frank Smith (inmates Kenneth Hess and Barry Schwartz) / NYPD
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771
43 dead (5 by gunfire, the rest died from the crash, including the gunman)
Date: December 7, 1987
Target: public transportation (plane)
Location: San Luis Obispo County near Cayucos, California (landed)
Weapon(s): Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver, Plane
Perpetrator: David Augustus Burke
Maury County jail fire
42 dead, 30+ wounded
Date: June 26, 1977
Target: Maury County jail
Location: Columbia, Tennessee
Weapon: Fire
Perpetrator: Andy Zimmer
St. Elizabeth’s hospital fire
41 dead, 24 wounded
Date: January 7, 1950
Target: St. Elizabeth’s wing of the Mercy hospital
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Weapon: Fire
Perpetrator: Elnora Epperly
Heaven’s Gate (religious group)
39 dead
Date: March 22 - 26, 1997
Target: “The Monastery” mansion home
Location: Rancho Santa Fe, California
Weapon(s): all died by mixing Phenobarbital with apple sauce or pudding and washing it down with vodka and securing plastic bags around their heads, including Applewhite, the cult leader
Perpetrator: Marshall Applewhite
USS Liberty incident
34 dead, 171 wounded
Date: June 8, 1967
Target: a United States naval ship
Location: Mediterranean Sea near the Sinai Peninsula
Weapon(s): torpedoes and fighter jet missiles
Perpetrator: Israeli Air Force
Virginia Tech shooting
32 dead, 23 wounded (17 by gunfire)
Date: April 16, 2007
Target: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia
Weapon(s): Glock 19 pistol and a Walther P22 pistol
Perpetrator: Seung-Hui Cho
UpStairs Lounge arson attack
32 dead, 15 wounded
Date: June 24, 1973
Target: UpStairs Lounge
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Weapon: Fire (lighter fluid + matches)
Perpetrator: Rodger Nunez
Sandy Hook school shooting
27 dead, 2 wounded
Date: December 14, 2012
Target: Sandy Hook Elementary School
Location: Newtown, Connecticut
Weapon(s): Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle and a Glock 20SF handgun
Perpetrator: Adam Lanza
Sutherland Springs church shooting
26 dead (including an unborn child), 20 wounded
Date: November 5, 2017
Target: First Baptist Church
Location: Sutherland Springs, Texas
Weapon: Ruger AR-556 semi-automatic rifle
Perpetrator: Devin Patrick Kelley
Dorothy Mae Apartments fire
25 dead, 31 wounded
Date: September 4, 1982
Target: Dorothy Mae Apartments
Location: Los Angeles, California
Weapon: Fire (gasoline + matches)
Perpetrator: Humberto Diaz de la Torre
Luby’s shooting
23 dead, 27 wounded (19 by gunfire)
Date: October 16, 1991
Target: Luby’s cafeteria
Location: Killeen, Texas
Weapon(s): Glock 17 and a Ruger P89
Perpetrator: George Hennard
2019 El Paso shooting
22 dead, 24 wounded
Date: August 3, 2019
Target: Walmart
Location: El Paso, Texas
Weapon: WASR-10
Perpetrator: Patrick Crusius
San Ysidro McDonald’s massacre
21 dead, 19 wounded
Date: July 18, 1984
Target: McDonald’s restaurant
Location: San Ysidro, California
Weapon(s): Browning HP (9mm), Uzi Carbine (9mm), Winchester 1200 pump-action shotgun (12 gauge)
Perpetrator: James Huberty
USS Cole bombing
17 dead, 39 wounded
Date: October 12, 2000
Target: a United States Navy guided missile destroyer
Location: Aden, Yemen
Weapon: a small fiberglass boat carrying 400 - 700 pounds of C4 explosives molded into a shaped charge against the hull of the boat
Perpetrator(s): two suicide bombers (Ibrahim al-Thawr and Abdullah al-Misawa)
University of Texas tower shooting
17 dead (including an unborn child and Gunby, who died in 2001), 31 wounded
Date: August 1, 1966
Target(s): University of Texas at Austin, Residence
Location: Austin, Texas
Weapon(s): 7 guns and a Machete (2 dead, including one who was both shot and stabbed)
Perpetrator: Charles Whitman
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
17 dead, 17 wounded
Date: February 14, 2018
Target: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Location: Parkland, Florida
Weapon: Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport II
Perpetrator: Nikolas Cruz
D.C. sniper attacks
17 dead, 10 wounded
Date(s): February 16 - October 24, 2002
Target(s): Residences, Golf Courses, Stores (including Package Stores, Liquor Stores, Craft Stores, Auto Dealerships, Gas Stations, Shopping Malls, etc.) and Bus Stops
Location(s): Tacoma, Washington (1 dead); Tucson, Arizona (1 dead); Clinton, Maryland (1 dead); Atlanta, Georgia (1 dead); Montgomery, Alabama (1 dead); Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1 dead); Montgomery County, Maryland (5 dead); Prince William County, Virginia (1 dead); Spotsylvania County, Virginia (1 dead); Fairfax County, Virginia (1 dead); Aspen Hill, Maryland (1 dead)
Weapon(s): Bushmaster XM-15 rifle, .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO Carbine Rifle
Perpetrator(s): John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
The Dover massacre
16 dead, 4 wounded
Date(s): December 22 - 28, 1987
Target(s): Residence, Law Office, Oil Company
Location(s): Dover and Russellville, Arkansas
Weapon(s): Firearms (8 dead), Strangulation/Drowning in a Rain Barrel (8 dead)
Perpetrator: Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr.
West Fertilizer Company explosion
15 dead, 160 - 200 wounded
Date: April 17, 2013
Target: West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility
Location: West, Texas
Weapon: Arson fire inside an ammonium nitrate storage facility
Perpetrator(s?): Unknown
2015 San Bernardino attack
14 dead, 24 wounded
Date: December 2, 2015
Target: Inland Regional Center
Location: San Bernardino, California
Weapon(s): 4 guns
Perpetrator(s): Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik
Edmond post office shooting
14 dead, 6 wounded
Date: August 20, 1986
Target: Postal Office
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma
Weapon(s): two M1911 (.45 ACP) semi-automatic pistols and a Ruger (.22 caliber) semi-automatic pistol
Perpetrator: Patrick Sherrill
Columbine High School massacre
13 dead, 24 wounded (21 by gunfire)
Date: April 20, 1999
Target: Columbine High School
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Weapon(s): Intratec AB-10, Hi-Point 995 Carbine, Savage 67H pump-action shotgun, Stevens 311D double-barreled sawed-off shotgun
Perpetrator(s): Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
Subject: Worst acts of mass murder (1945-2019) 
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:48 pm
