I've created this list of American mass shooters that pre-date Howard Unruh—who tabloids, sensationalists, and stupid people often refer to as "the first mass shooter in America!" I excluded gangsters, robbers, and family annihilators from this list, as well as shooters who killed less than three people. I also excluded Indian massacres and race riots because those are not true mass shootings.
There are currently 73 mass shooters on this list.
You may notice that the list is rushed. Not every shooter has a description, and that's because I went away for a few days and I wanted to post this before then. I'll add missing descriptions, links, and shooters later.
Without further ado:
List of early American mass shooters1883
November 21: Unidentified
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]An unidentified gunman killed five people at a farm house in Spring Arbor Township, Michigan. Just before midnight, the shooter killed Jacob D. Crouch (the farm's owner), his daughter, his son-in-law, and a cattle buyer from Pennsylvania. Crouch's farmhand overheard the shooting and hid in a trunk until morning. He finally mustered up the courage to see what happened, and walked in on the carnage. He subsequently ran to the nearest neighbor, who called the sheriff. Speculation arose as to who the perpetrator could be. Theories include: thieves, a fired farmhand seeking revenge, or cowboys hired by Crouch's relatives to kill Crouch over an inheritance dispute.
1884
December 3: Thomas Furquin
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Thomas Furquin, a young man, killed five people in Walworth, Nebraska, before committing suicide. Furquin was in love with 16-year-old Mary Finley, who didn't reciprocate his feelings and had a boyfriend. Nevertheless, he asked her out to a dance, to which she rejected him. So he armed himself with a double-barrel shotgun and went to her house, where he hid behind some straw stacks. Once Mary, her boyfriend, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend returned home in a spring wagon at about 3 in the morning, Furquin fatally shot them and began clubbing them over the head with the butt of his gun. At the same time, Mary's father went outside after hearing the gunshots. Furquin fatally shot him in the head and clubbed him as well. After making sure that each victim was dead, Furquin dragged the bodies into the house and set it on fire before walking down to a river bank, where he fatally shot himself in the head with a revolver.
1885
May 5: Martin Nelson
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]24-year-old Martin Nelson
1886
March 20: Edward Johnson
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Edward Johnson, a young man, killed four men and wounded many others in Burt County, Nebraska, before being shot to death. He first fatally shot his employer with a revolver before acquiring a Winchester rifle, ammunition, and fleeing the scene on a horse. A posse, armed with revolvers, pursued him for eight miles on horses before Johnson opened fire on them, killing two men and a horse, and injuring several others. The posse returned fire on him, but he was out of range. However, he was probably wounded during the shootout. A crowd of 100 men then began to follow him. Once they closed in on him, he barricaded himself inside of a barn. The two parties took turns firing at each other through the barns walls. The following day, reinforcements (61 more armed men) arrived, some of them law enforcement, and attempted to storm the barn that afternoon. The attempt resulted in Johnson killing another man and slightly wounding several others. They set the barn on fire thirty minutes later. When it subsided, they found Johnson dead, riddled with bullets.
1897
January 1/7: Simon S. Cooper
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Simon Cooper killed five people and injured five others in South Carolina in early January. On January 1, he killed a fellow black man and wounded five others at an emancination parade in Lynchburg before fleeing. On January 6, he purchased a Winchester rifle in Florence before returning to Lynchburg that night. Early the next morning, he borrowed his friend's horse and killed four people, including a family of three, during a murder spree. The family was shot while the fourth victim was stabbed, beaten with a stick, and hit in the head with an axe. He then fled the scene once again in the direction of Mayesville. Cooper was with a teenage boy whose father owned the horse Cooper had borrowed. After the killings, Cooper dropped the boy off near Mayesville, gave him $5, left the horse with him, and told him to go home. Posses tracked Cooper down to his uncle's house in the nearby town of Magnolia. Cooper and 50 armed men exchanged gunfire for some time until Cooper surrendered. However, as the posse looked for rope to tie him up, Cooper ran towards a man and threatened to kill him. He was subsequently shot twice in the head.
1902
April 6: Will Reynolds
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]35-year-old Will Reynolds killed seven people, including five policemen, and injured two others in Tuscumbia, Alabama, before being shot to death. The shooting started when the sheriff and a deputy went to Reynold's home to arrest him for obtaining property under false pretenses. Reynolds killed them both. A posse then surrounded his house. Reynolds fired at them, killing five more people and injuring two others. The posse then set his house on fire and killed him while he attempted to escape.
1903
August 13: Gilbert Twigg
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]36-year-old Gilbert Twigg, a veteran, killed eight or nine people and injured 25 or 26 others with a 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun at a concert in Winfield, Kansas, before killing himself with his handgun. In his suicide note, he wrote that he felt insulted by everyone, and that his shooting should be a lesson for the future.
October 11: James "Jim" Little Plume
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]24-year-old James Little Plume killed seven people on the Blackfoot Indian reservation in Two Medicine, Montana, before being arrested. While drunk, he armed himself with a rifle and rode his horse to his neighbor's house, where he killed all five people inside. He then went to his friend's house and killed a woman there. He then returned home and killed his wife. He wanted to kill four other people, but his rifle jammed before he could do so. So he instead slashed his arm and neck with a knife before falling unconscious. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 49 years in prison. He was released from prison in 1944, and died on April 19, 1949.
1904
October 3: Charles Geitrell
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]24-year-old Charles Geitrell killed four people at a store in O'briens Landing, Missouri. That day, he had been in bed because he was suffering a fever. However, he jumped out of the bed wearing only a robe, grabbed a shotgun, and ran to the store where he committed the shooting. Afterwards, he stole two pistols and ran into the woods. He was never apprehended as far as I can tell.
1906
November 13: Will Harris
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Will Harris killed five people and injured three others in Asheville, North Carolina, before being shot to death.
1908
November 15: Newt Decker
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]35-year-old Newt Decker killed four people and wounded nine others in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, before being shot to death.
December 11: William Latura
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]On December 11, 1908, William "Wild Bill" Latura opened fire on a group of black people around a pool table in a Memphis saloon, killing five people and wounding up to two others. The shooting was not racially motivated, but instead because the saloon-keeper had whipped Latura's girlfriend. After the shooting, he sat down at the bar and drank until the police arrested him. He was found not guilty at his trial because the jury did not consider killing black people to be a serious offense. Before the shooting, Latura had a lengthy record of harming people. He killed a man with a bat in "self defense," nearly disemboweled another man, tried to kill a saloon keeper, and shot three people on separate occasions. After he was found not guilty of the saloon shooting, he killed two more men in "self defense." The police finally became fed up with him in 1916 because he had threatened several officers and even the sheriff. When they went to arrest him, he reached for his gun and was shot to death.
1910
August 29: Gully
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Gully killed six people and injured seven others in Willow Patch, Nevada, before being shot to death by the father of one of his victims. He first killed his second wife by striking her in the face and then shooting her with his revolver. At that point, Gully was still intoxicated from the whisky he drank the previous night. He then killed his mother-in-law, who he was angry at since she refused to marry him, and his brother-in-law. Afterwards, he killed three fellow Indians who tried to disarm him. He also wounded a man who attempted to arrest him, as well as six children. The shooting spree came to an end when Joe, the father of one of Gully's victims, fatally shot Gully, who was waiting for more victims behind a pile of rocks. Back in 1896, Gully was charged with killing his first wife, but the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. He was also the leader of a squad of bandits.
1912
July 16: Will "Bob" Harris
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Will "Bob" Harris, a prison escapee who was wanted for arson, killed three people and injured three others in Tampa, Florida. Armed with multiple revolvers, he first injured a woman in her yard while walking to the house of Dave Andrews, his friend. Once he arrived at his Andrews' home, four other friends of his were there as well. Andrews' wife and another man were preparing dinner. After they announced that dinner was ready, Harris killed them both. He then exited the house by the rear door. He injured another girl while walking in the street by shooting her in the left lung, shoulder, and arm. [INCOMPLETE]
1913
September 27–28: Walter and William Jones
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]William Jones and his older brother, Walter, killed eight people and wounded 14 others before being lynched. On the night of the 27th, William got into an argument with two other men over a dice game at another man's house, so William retrieved his shotgun, and killed the two men as well as the house's owner. He then walked onto the street and shot people at random. At one point, he went home to get Walter to help him kill people. After invading a house and killing the two people inside, the brothers went to a train station, where they killed a man and then fired into a restaurant, killing another man and wounding at least five others. They then fled to a boarding house near their home. When William saw a posse investigating his house from afar, he fired two shots, killing the sheriff and injuring another man. The posse then ran toward the direction of the gunshots. One posseman saw Jones and the two shot and wounded each other. William was subsequently subdued and hanged on a signal post. By sunrise, 300 armed men surrounded the boarding house where Walter Jones was still hiding in. After Walter killed another man, an old black man entered the building and convinced him to surrender. However, a crowd then took hold of Walter and hanged him.
November 21/29: Rafael "Red" Lopez
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]27-year-old Rafael Lopez killed six with a rifle in Bingham, Utah, before escaping.
1915
March 6: Monroe Phillips
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]58-year-old Monroe Phillips killed seven people and injured 30 others in Brunswick, Georgie, before being shot to death. He first went to the office of a local lawyer who he hated. There, he killed the lawyer and gravely injured another man before shooting two more men from the top of a stairway, killing one and injuring the other. He then started walking to another lawyer's office, shooting people along the way. When he found out that the lawyer wasn't there that day, he walked back to a pharmacy near the first lawyer's office, all while shooting people on the street. One of the wounded victims, who was the former mayor, and another man acquired guns from a local hardware store. They then went into the pharmacy, sneaking through a side door. By then, Phillips was already engaging in a shootout with the police and had already killed an officer. The two armed men ambushed him and shot him from behind. Phillips fell to the floor and died a few minutes later.
1916
June 24: Harry Clark
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]30-year-old Harry Clark killed six people and wounded four others near Osceola, Arkansas, before committing suicide.
July 18: Henry and Hattie McIntyre
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Henry J. McIntyre and his wife, Hattie, killed four people and injured two others in Chicago, Illinois, before being killed by the police. On the evening of the shooting, Henry wrote two letters, in which he stated that he was a prophet who had to die to take his report to god. The two then armed themselves, Henry with a pistol and rifle, and Hattie with a rifle. They subsequently killed three neighbors from inside their house before the police arrived. Officers then rushed into the house and Henry fired at them, killing one and injuring two. After that, the cops decided to blow the house up with dynamite. Hattie was found dead in the rubble and Henry was still breathing, so an officer shot him dead.
1917
April 4: L. Denny
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]L. Denny, a wealthy grain farmer, killed three men in Tulare Lake, California, before being shot to death. He was angered over being sued by a tractor company because he refused to pay his debt for a traction engine. He first killed the attorney representing the tractor company in the attorney's office. He also killed an employee that was there as well. He then traveled to the county courthouse, where he killed a judge. He then went to his car and was going to drive off. However, a marshal arrived and ordered him to surrender. Denny instead drew his revolver, so the marshal killed him.
1918
February 2: Felipe Alvarrez
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1923
December 14/15: Joe Pullen
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1925
November 22: Tony Vettere
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Tony Vettere murdered three men in the streets of Butte, Montana, before being arrested in a gully the following day. The shotgun murders were apparently motiveless, besides Vettere just being a genuine whack job. He was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, he attacked officers who were attempting to escort him to the gallows with an iron pipe and sharpened spoon. They had to hurl tear gas at him for 15 minutes until he finally fell unconscious. The officers then carried him to the gallows and hanged him. He was the last person to be executed in the city.
1926
March 18: John M. Goins
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]June 7: Robert R. "Bob" Tarter
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]30-year-old Robert Tarter, armed with a pistol, killed five people and injured one other in Magnolia Park (Houston), Texas. That afternoon, Tarter, his sweetheart, and their friends were having a get-together at a friend's apartment. They were drinking together and just shooting the breeze. All was well until Tarter left the room. When he returned, he pulled out his gun and shot his sweetheart to death. He then began gunning down everyone else in the room. Afterwards, he fled to a freighter, where he worked as a steward. He stayed there for three hours until he saw the police arriving, upon which he fatally shot himself in the head. His suicide letter wrote: "It is now 3 a.m. So good-bye to father, mother, brothers and sisters and also Johnson, Findley, Kelly, Gotomot, Shea, Wilroy, Kertell and Mr. and Mrs. Binzen [his shipmates], and all those who know me to be a man and a square shooter. Please send send my belongings and remains to Dallas Tarter, Somerset, Ky., postoffice address Naomi, Ky." Investigators said that extreme jealousy was the motive behind the shooting.
1928
August 22: Leung Ying
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1929
May 31: Ferdinand Preuss
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]38-year-old Ferdinand Preuss, a drunk WW1 veteran, killed two policeman and a neighbor and wounded four other people after opening fire with a shotgun from the windows of his Chicago flat. He then ran out the back door before laying down on railroad tracks, where his arms and head were severed by a train.
December 18: Walter Crabtree
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]35-year-old Walter Crabtree, drunk, went house to house shooting people on his death list, killing three and injuring three others with a shotgun in Romney, West Virginia. The shooting was revenge for his prior arrest for a liquor law violation. He was arrested and found guilty of the murders in February of 1930, and executed by hanging in May of that year. His last words were: "Good night, gentlemen, I hope to see you all in heaven."
1931
May 15: William A. Renfroe
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]William A. Renfroe killed three people and injured another at a logging camp near Shelton, Washington, before committing suicide. He first killed his wife and daughter and critically injured his other daughter in their cabin. He then met with a young logging foreman, who he killed as well. Afterwards, he returned to his cabin and set it on fire before shooting himself to death. A year prior to the shooting, Renfroe had been acquitted of killing one man and injuring another at a dance hall while drunk.
July 23: Marco Demofonti
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]45-year-old Marco Demofonti used a shotgun, revolver, and butcher knife to kill five people and wound three others in Mercer, Pennsylvania. He committed the shooting because he believed that someone had poisoned his drink several weeks prior, which he said caused him to suffer a curse of insanity. He first killed his wife and sister-in-law before walking outside and shooting people at random. An armed man later shot him in the hip and subdued him until the police arrived. Demofonti was subsequently ruled insane and sent to an insane asylum.
September: Frank Gray
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1932
January 2: Harry (left) and Jennings Young
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]December 30: James H. Abernathy
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Private James H. Abernathy, a black man, went on a shooting spree around Fort Huachuca in Arizona, killing two white infantry captains and their wives, and wounding a Lieutenant before being shot to death by the post guard. Investigators believe the shooting was motivated by racism as well as Abernathy's demotion from Sergeant.
1933
March 6: Herman Klink
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]40-year-old Herman Klink, a schizophrenic, killed five people and injured five others during a shooting spree with a rifle near his home in Cleveland, Ohio. He was killed by a detective after a brief shootout with the police and armed civilians.
September 8: Adrian F. Jones
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]66-year-old Adrian F. Jones, armed with a shotgun, killed four men on a street in Belfast, Maine, before committing suicide. He had mental problems, but was considered harmless. However, he did hold grudges against many residents of the town, including one of his victims. Jones was also a known gun fanatic, almost never leaving the house without his two automatic revolvers.
1934
May 26: Thomas J. Hayes
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]69-year-old Thomas J. Hayes, a wealthy farmer, killed three people before committing suicide in Ramsey, Illinois. He was jealous that his housekeeper's 17-year-old daughter was getting married, so he killed them both, and then a neighbor who tried to intervene. Afterwards, he committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart with a revolver (gruesome).
July 1: John Wood
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]John Wood, 53, killed four people and injured another with an automatic shotgun at a party in East Tawas, Michigan. The party took place at a cottage that Wood was sleeping in, and he became angry because the partygoers woke him up. Wood was sentenced to life in prison.
September 5: Frederikus "Fred" Blink
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]45-year-old Fred Blink slayed five persons and wounded another with an automatic shotgun during a rampage in Fulton, Illinois. The father of six became enraged after his farmer friend would not repay him a debt he owed. Blink killed four victims at the farm and shot two others at a bridge, killing one and critically wounding the other. The massacre was stopped by a policeman, who encountered the maniac at the bridge approach. Blink recognized the officer as the man who had arrested for drunk driving some time ago, so he fired at him but missed. The officer returned fire and wounded Blink before arresting him. Blink was executed the following year.
November 22: Floyd Watson
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]21-year-old Floyd Watson used a shotgun to kill four people and injure three others in Quitman, Mississippi, before voluntarily surrendering himself to a minister two days later. He first killed a man over a game of dice. Floyd had lost $2 while playing and wanted to use his own dice, but the victim wouldn't let him. He then headed to the home of his sweetheart, where he killed her and her parents because the parents wouldn't let him date her. He also injured three other people there. He then fled into the woods. After his arrest, he remained in jail until his execution by hanging on February 14, 1936.
December 1: Charles T. Ritchie
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]60-year-old Charles T. Ritchie fatally shot his two roommates and his landlady at their apartment in Rochester, New York, before committing suicide. Ritchie committed the slayings due to a series of arguments between him and one of the victims.
1935
January 8: George Collett
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]43-year-old George Collett first shot his wife and five members of her family, killing all but one of them. He then drove to a couple's house and killed them. He planned to kill three more people, but a sheriff-led posse surrounded him so he committed suicide instead. Collett was already a fugitive wanted for robbing a bank, but his breaking point was a quarrel with his family that left him enraged.
January 26: Henry (right) and Ruth Arden
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Henry Watson "Hal" Arden and his mother, Ruth, went on a shooting spree in Chicago, killing three and injuring another. Armed with pistols, they first murdered a relief worker at their apartment. They then went to a local relief station where Henry shot three more people, killing two. Although he targeted relief workers, he also shot a man who he mistook for a cop. Ruth was also shooting, but all of her bullets went wild. The shooting ended when Henry killed his mother before killing himself.
September 9: Pete Novalto
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]25-year-old Pete Novalto, a Filipino fruit worker, killed three Mexicans and injured four other people during a 15-minute-long killing spree at a cafe in Delano, California. The attack began after a Mexican insulted him. He stabbed the man and two others with a sheath knife, severely injuring them all. He then went home to retrieve his pistol. Once he returned to the cafe, he fatally shot three more mexicans there. Another man was slightly injured by a ricocheting bullet. The attack ended with a police officer arrived. Novalto shot at him but missed. The officer returned fire and killed him.
October 13: Paschal Leonard "Pat" Boyer (alias George Leo Rutledge)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]31-year-old Paschal Boyer killed four people and wounded another in Davis County, Utah. He first shot a woman three times in the head with his automatic pistol. He then killed a couple who saw him dispose of her body. A few hours later, he went for a drive on the highway, during which he shot two men in their cars, killing one. After attempting to kill himself with a spoon, he was arrested by a policeman just north of city limits. He was found insane and sent to a mental hospital, where he died of natural causes two years later.
December 16: Charles Newton Layman
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]44-year-old Charles Newton Layman, a former W.P.A. worker, killed six of his former colleagues and wounded another with a hunting rifle while they were working on a storm drain project in Los Angeles. He committed the shooting due to hallucinations that his co-workers were persecuting him. He was found insane and sent to an insane asylum, where he died in May of 1971.
December 25: William Henry Knight
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]39-year-old William Henry Knight killed three people and wounded another in Butte, Montana, before being shot to death by the police. Knight, an ex-convict, first tried to enter a woman's apartment. He eventually stormed off but returned a few minutes later. The woman had already left by that point, but Knight shot her sister and a 24-year-old man, killing the latter. When two policemen arrived on the scene to arrest him, he shot them as well. Afterwards, he fled the scene, during which he killed a ranch employee to steal his car. Two days later, he took a father, mother, and their two children captive at their home. However, Knight had an incurable disease and needed medicine, so he let the family go upon them promising to return. However, they instead notified the police, who threw tear gas into the home and shot knight as he tried to escape through a window. A month before the shooting, he killed a sheriff in Washington after the man caught him steal chickens.
1936
December 18: Martin J. Sullivan
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]65-year-old Martin J. Sullivan killed five people and wounded a sixth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, because he had been arrested for molesting an 11-year-old girl. As an officer was taking him to jail, Sullivan requested to stop at his son's house to discuss his arrest, and the officer let him. However, Sullivan instead snuck into his own home and grabbed his pistol, after which he walked to the house of a teenage girl he had previously been sexually predatory towards. After killing the girl and her parents, he walked to the house of Mary Vukelja, the mother of his rape victim. There, he killed Mary and her son. He then walked back to the officer, drank with him at a saloon, and afterwards requested to visit Laura Bacon, a woman who testified against him. The officer once again agreed, and Sullivan killed her too. He was later convicted and executed by electric chair five months later.
1937
March 1: Frank Bailey
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]59-year-old Frank Bailey killed three employees and injured two women in the offices of a relief agency in Denver, Colorado, before being arrested. He was then ruled insane and sent to the insane ward of a prison. Bailey, a transient, committed the shooting because the agency refused to give him relief money since he didn't live in Denver.
March 25: Jeremiah P. Mackey
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]38-year-old Jeremiah Mackey killed three people with a pistol in Boston, Massachusetts, before killing himself. He first entered the cellar of his brother's house, where he killed his brother. He then went up to the laundry room and killed his brother's chauffeur. His brother's maid heard the shooting from upstairs and ran to a nearby pharmacy. At the pharmacy, he fatally shot the maid in the chest, and then fired a warning shot towards at another man who tried to intervene. Afterwards, Mackey ran into an alley and fatally shot himself in the head. No motive was determined, but Mackey had been treated for a mental disorder, which gave him an irrational fear that he was infected with a malignant disease.
December 28: Bennie Bonifacio Aranda
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1938
February 4: John Mack
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]79-year-old John Mack killed four fellow inmates and injured a fifth at Tewksbury State Infirmary in Massachusetts because they called him "bad names." Mack bought the pistol that he used in the shooting from a mail order house with money he saved from reselling tobacco allotted by the hospital. He hid the pistol under his bed until an attendant left the ward at dawn. Then he blasted his way through the dormitory, only shooting his targets before fleeing down a fire escape and hiking to Lowell, where he was arrested three hours later by a rookie cop who recognized him. He was tried and found innocent of the shooting by reason of insanity after it was discovered that he was suffering from delusions, hallucinations, and believed that there was a conspiracy to kill him. He was subsequently sent to a mental hospital, where he hanged himself four years later.
April 22: William Gentry Peters
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]43-year-old William Peters killed three people with a revolver in Cleveland, Ohio. He sought revenge on employees of an apartment building since his wife was fired from there a week prior to the shooting. He also said the victims were mean and unfair to him. He was first driving with a maid who worked for the apartment. At some point, he threw out of his car and shot four times in broad daylight, killing her. He then drove to the building, where he demanded to speak to the janitor. However, Peters then saw an engineer. He told the engineer: "you are one of them who got my wife," before fatally shooting him four times. Still wanting to kill the janitor, Peters went to the man's apartment and shot him to death. Just as Peters was fleeing the scene, the police spotted him. He subsequently jumped into his car and they had an 80 mph police chase. He was eventually taken into custody, found guilty that July, and executed by electric chair that September.
1939
April 26: Marion Mackey
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]38-year-old Marion Mackey killed four of his neighbors and injured two others near Emberson, Texas, before committing suicide. The killings were motivated over a feud between Mackey and the Snows (the neighboring family) due to straying chickens. Mackey had already warned his wife that he wanted to "wipe out" the Snows. His plan came to fruition a year later, when he grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and walked over to the Snows' house, where he killed Mr. Snow and his two adult daughters and wounded two other members of the family. He then walked over a mile across a field to where another neighbor was planting corn, and killed him as well. Mackey proceeded to fatally shot himself nearby. He created a contraption so that when he pulled the trigger, a tree branch fell on him, obscuring his corpse. His body remained undiscovered until that July, when his brother came across it while picking blackberries.
September 13: Martin Vnuk
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]55-year-old Martin Vnuk killed three neighbors and wounded three others in Tintown, Pennsylvania. With his family away, he played his violin for hours until gathering his weapons and searching for Roman Machulsky. A year beforehand, Vnuk's son, Wendell, and Machulsky's son were on a motorcycle together. Machulsky's son, the man behind the wheel, got into an accident and killed Wendall. So Vnuk knocked on the door to Machulsky's home. The man's wife answered, and told Vnuk that her husband wasn't home. Upon hearing this, Vnuk shot her in the heart and twice more after she fell, killing her. He then sought William Galo, who testified against him in an assault case. However, he was also away from home. Vnuk instead clubbed a woman unconscious (his gun malfunctioned). Other neighbors then got word of what was happening and chased Vnuk, who took refuge in his house. Vnuk then sniped people from the second floor, killing two people and injuring two others. Once the police arrived, they tried to smoke him out with tear gas. When that didn't work, they used hand grenades, which did work. Vnuk was later sentenced to life in prison. Sometime before the shooting spree, he murdered someone before shooting himself in the head. He survived despite losing his right eye. He was acquitted of that murder by reason of insanity.
December 24: Thompson M. Grissett
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]39-year-old Thompson M. Grissett killed three men at a roadhouse with a .38-caliber gun in Troy, Alabama, before being arrested. He first killed a man he had an argument with inside the roadhouse, and then randomly killed two others standing outside. He was given a 35-year-long prison sentence in May of 1941.
1940
May 6: Verlin Spencer
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1942
July 17: Vincent J. Christy
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]38-year-old Vincent J. Christy killed four people in southwest Miami, Florida. He first killed Irving Leopold; Irving's wife, Esther; and his their son, Stephen, at their house because he had grudge against Irving. As he exited the house, Christy jumped into a young man's car as the man was driving past the home. He forced the man at gunpoint to drive to a secluded area, where he fatally shot him and dumped his body in a bush. He then drove the victim's car until he crashed it into a light pole, and then fled on foot. Christy remained a free man until September of that year. While being arrested for a robbery, the police noticed he matched the description of the perpetrator to a tee. They then found the weapons he used during the murders in his vehicle, a silenced automatic pistol and a revolver. The ballistics matched and Christy wrote a confession. He was found guilty of the murders a few months later and executed by electric chair in March of 1943.
1943
Late February: Charles Joseph Scanlan III
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]21-year-old Charles Joseph Scanlan III killed three people with a rifle in Downieville, California, before committing suicide. He first killed his father and a miner while they were working in a gold mine. He then to the family cabin, where killed his mother and tried to set the building on fire. When he failed, he committed suicide. The murders were discovered the following week on March 6, when a starving dog led two men to the gruesome scene.
July 23: Austin Cox Jr.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]38-year-old Austin Cox Jr. killed five people and injured two others during a 45-minute-long shooting spree in Ogden, Utah. Cox was enraged over being required to pay his ex-wife alimony. He first entered a house. He thought it was his ex-wife was staying there, but he was wrong. Inside the house, he wounded a husband, killed a wife, and killed the wife's mother. A girl survived by hiding behind a washing machine. Two neighbors walked up to the house to see what the commotion was. Cox shot them both, killing one. Cox subsequently hopped in his car and drove two miles to Judge Lewis Trueman's house. From the yard, he fired his 12-guage shotgun through the kitchen door. The judge then yelled at Cox from a window, asking what he was doing. Cox responded by killing him. After a manhunt, he was apprehended and later sentenced to death. While on death row, he tried to escape twice and attacked a guard with a sharpened spoon. He was finally executed by firing squad on the morning of June 19, 1944.
1944
March 5: Beauford Swancutt
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]31-year-old Lieutenant Beauford Swancutt killed four people and wounded four others with his service pistol in California. He first killed his girlfriend and her friend in the Camp Anza officers' club in Riverside. Then he killed his superior in the officer's quarters. Finally he killed a policeman in the nearby town of Arlington before being severely wounded in a shootout. He was convicted of the murders a short time later and sentenced to death, but he instead committed suicide in an army hospital on July 6, 1944.
December 6: Daniel Molnar Jr.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]25-year-old Daniel Molnar Jr. killed four people and injured two others in Carteret, New Jersey, before being arrested. He became enraged after an argument with his wife's family regarding the custody of his daughter. Although he planned to kill the whole family, he only managed to kill his father-in-law before the police arrived. He then killed a policeman and wounded two others. A stray bullet fired by Molnar hit a teenage girl, who died from her injuries. Afterwards, he used his daughter as a shield to flee the scene, during which he killed another officer. He abandoned the child once he made it out of view from the police officers. He turned himself in after taking a stroll around town. A short time later, he was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death. He was executed by electric chair less than a year later.
1945
July 8: Clarence V. Bertucci
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1947
December 25: Joe DeSantis
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]60-year-old Joe DeSantis killed three people and injured three others in Greensboro, North Carolina, before killing himself. Armed with a shotgun and revolver, he walked up to the home of David R. Martin, the landlord who evicted him, and shot through the windows. He killed Martin and Martin's daughter-in-law, wounded Martin's son, and paralyzed Martin's wife. He then traveled two blocks to a woman's house and knocked on the door. Once the woman answered, he pointed his gun at her and demanded her to drive him to the police station. However, she did not drive, so she suggested that he go to her neighbor's house. When prompted, the neighbor agreed to drive DeSantis, but demanded he disarm himself. DeSantis refused and shot the neighbor as well as the woman, killing the former. Five hours later, DeSantis made his way to the fire station. Once inside, he wished the firemen a "merry Christmas" before fatally shooting himself in the head.
1948
January 31: Joe A. Contanzi
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]32-year-old Joe A. Contanzi killed three councilmen and critically injured another at a town board meeting in Elmer, Minnesota, before committing suicide. He committed the shooting because the board members denied his request for a beer tavern license. He used a hunting rifle which was concealed under his overcoat. The fifth board member escaped unharmed and hid in a snowbank. Contanzi had vaguely threatened the councilmen before, but no one took him seriously.
September 20: William and George U. Bell
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]34-year-old William Bell and his 33-year-old brother, George, killed four policemen and injured another at an apartment building in Kansas City, Missouri. The shooting started when two officers responded to a disturbance call at William's apartment, where a drinking party was happening. When the officers announced they were going to take them into custody, the brothers took turns shooting the officers with a shotgun. One immeditately died while the other laid wounded. William took the wounded officer's revolver and killed him with it. He then walked outside behind the building and seized a shotgun from the patrol car that the cops arrived in. Once reinforcements arrived, both of the brothers shot them until William was killed and George fled the scene with his girlfriend. During the chaos, a policeman mistakenly shot and killed a civilian who was running away from the scene. George was arrested shortly afterwards at his own apartment. He admitted that he served jail time for killing a solider while he served in Algeria during World War II. Anyways, George was found guilty of the murders and executed by gas chamber on December 2, 1949.
November 6: Melvin Collins
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]December 9: John J. Hill
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]54-year-old John J. Hill, a railroad worker, killed four coworkers with a hunting rifle over a long-standing feud about whose job it was to clean the boilers. He first killed the two men his was arguing with, and then two more who rushed to aid them. He also threatened a fifth man, who escaped unharmed. Hill committed suicide once the police neared him.
December 22: Murdoch Hinton
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]45-year-old Murdock Hinton murdered his ex-wife, daughter, granddaughter, and the county sheriff at his ex-wife's house with a shotgun. He snuck the shotgun into the home by wrapping it up in wrapping paper. After the murders, he fled the scene and was peacefully arrested at his mother's house three days later. He was later executed by electric chair on February 2, 1951.
1949
April 17: George Albert McIntyre
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]25-year-old George Albert McIntyre, a World War II veteran, killed four people and injured three others people during a 40-minute-long shooting spree in Pullman, Washington, before being shot to death. The shooting started when a cop confronted him after McIntyre fought a man earlier that day, a violation of his parole. However, McIntyre shot and killed the officer with a pistol. He then grabbed a sniper rifle and took position on a hill next to a highway. There, he shot five more cops and two civilians, three fatally. A group of officers finally killed him while he tried to switch position.
Subject: Early American mass shooters 
Fri Aug 04, 2023 7:47 pm