1969 Pennsylvania Turnpike shootings

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1969 Pennsylvania Turnpike shootings
LocationPennsylvania Turnpike (East of Harrisburg), U.S.
Coordinates 40°07′47″N75°47′29″W / 40.1298°N 75.7914°W / 40.1298; -75.7914
DateApril 5, 1969 (1969-04-05)
10:17 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (EST)
Attack type
Weapon M1 carbine
Marlin 336 .30-caliber carbine
Deaths5 (including the perpetrator)
Injured16 [1]
PerpetratorDonald Martin Lambright

On April 5, 1969, Donald Martin Lambright, son of comedian Stepin Fetchit, was traveling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when he went on a shooting spree. Reportedly, he injured sixteen and killed four, including his wife, with an M1 carbine and a .30-caliber Marlin 336 carbine, before turning one of the rifles on himself. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The shooting was officially ruled a murder-suicide, but the account of the circumstances upon which the ruling was based was questioned by Lambright's daughter and discussed at length in her 2005 self-published book about Stepin Fetchit. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Lincoln Perry stated his belief that his son was set up. Lambright's involvement with the Black Power movement at the peak of the COINTELPRO program was believed to be related to his death. [5]

Victims

Traveling in the same car was the Keenan family: [2]

Critically injured:

Traveling in the same car were the shooter and his wife: [2]

Perpetrator

Donald Martin Lambright (born Donald Martin Perry; May 21, 1938 – April 5, 1969) was the son of comedian Stepin Fetchit, though they only met two years before Lambright's death. [5] A child of divorce, he took the name of his stepfather, Dr. Middleton Hugher Lambright Jr. (November 7, 1908 - June 14, 1999), a thoracic surgeon in Cleveland. He grew up in New York City and Cleveland. He studied political science at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, after being discharged from the US Air Force in 1961, following four years of service and two tours in Vietnam. Just before the shooting, he quit his job at the Ohio state employment office in Cleveland.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Son of Stepin Fetchit: Sniper Killer of 3 Termed 'Black Man with No Hope...'". The Desert Sun. Palm Springs, California. United Press International. April 7, 1969. p. 4. OCLC   26432381 . Retrieved September 7, 2019 via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pike Killer Felt Violence Only Racial Answer: Black Militant Kills 3, Including His Wife, Then Commits Suicide". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Vol. 42, no. 214. AP. April 7, 1969. p. 1. ISSN   1068-624X . Retrieved September 7, 2019 via Google News Archive.
  3. "Angry Young Man" . The New York Times . April 6, 1969. p. 45.
  4. "Pike killer not on drugs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Vol. 42, no. 217. AP. April 10, 1969. p. 10. ISSN   1068-624X via Google News Archive.
  5. 1 2 Seiler, Michael (November 20, 1985). "Stepin Fetchit, Noted Black Movie Comic of '30s, Dies". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved March 8, 2017.