2009 Saipan shootings

Last updated

2009 Saipan shootings
Li Zhongren.jpg
Li Zhongren(李中仁)
Location Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, United States
DateNovember 20, 2009
11:21 c. 11:51 a.m. [1] (UTC-10)
Attack type
Weapons .22-caliber rifle
Deaths5 (including the perpetrator)
Injured9 [2]
PerpetratorLi Zhongren

The 2009 Saipan shootings were a spree shooting that took place on the United States commonwealth island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. [3]

Contents

Shootings

The gunman opened fire in two locations across the island of Saipan. His first location was Kannat Tabla, where he shot and killed four people (two men, a four-year-old boy, and a two-year-old girl) at a shooting range at 11:21 a.m. A four-year-old girl, who was the daughter of one of the slain men and also the older sister of the deceased girl, was also shot in the chest, but she survived her injury. He then drove several miles to Marpi, where about 60 people were taking pictures of the area. There, he fired his rifle at a group of South Korean tourists from inside his van, wounding five of them, two of whom were children.

From there, he traveled to the popular tourist destination Last Command Post Park, which was the location of Japan's last base for military commanders during World War II. There, he set his van on fire and then walked to the edge of Banzai Cliff, firing along the way. Upon arriving along the edge of the cliff, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his rifle as police closed in. A search of the van's remains recovered three additional rifles and more than 750 rounds of ammunition. [2] [4] [5] The shootings lasted for an approximate half-hour. [1]

Victims

Five people (including the gunman) were killed and nine others were injured. All of the deceased victims, as well as one of the injured, were residents of Saipan, while the others were visiting from South Korea; it is not believed that the tourists were specifically targeted. They are: [2] [6]

Killed

Injured

Perpetrator

The gunman was identified as 42-year-old Li Zhongren, who was employed at the Kannat Tabla shooting range as a contract worker. He was also living at the shooting range at the time of the shootings. It had been reported that he left a suicide note behind detailing his motive as a "business deal gone bad". [4] Police officials believed that the shootings, reported as premeditated, were sparked by a frustration over financial issues. [2]

Reactions

The Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands Benigno Fitial said of the shooting, "My heart and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims in today's shooting and most especially to those that were fatally wounded. The commonwealth has never experienced a tragic situation like this, and we are saddened by the appalling action of a single individual that has caused so much harm to our peaceful island community." [5] Saipan Congressman Gregorio Sablan also commented, "The security we take for granted in our island homes has been broken by this senseless act of violence." Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, Eloy Inos, told reporters, "This is an unfortunate but isolated incident. It happened for reasons unbeknownst to us, but we can handle this type of situation." Following the announcement that South Korean tourists were among the injured, this led to fears that tourism rates would drop at Saipan. [4] Schools across the island were shut down for the day for safety reasons.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aramoana massacre</span> 1990 mass shooting in Aramoana, New Zealand

The Aramoana massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 13 November 1990 in the small seaside township of Aramoana, northeast of Dunedin, New Zealand. Resident David Gray killed 13 people, including local police Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, one of the first responders to the reports of a shooting, after a verbal dispute between Gray and his next-door neighbour. After a careful house-to-house search the next day, police officers led by the Anti-Terrorist Squad located Gray, and shot and injured him as he came out of a house firing from the hip. He died in an ambulance while being transported to hospital.

The Crandon shooting was a mass murder that occurred about 2:45 a.m. CDT on October 7, 2007, at a post-homecoming party inside a duplex in Crandon, Wisconsin, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Tyler James Peterson, who was a full-time deputy in the Forest County Sheriff's Department and a part-time officer with the Crandon Police Department, shot and killed six people and critically injured a seventh before committing suicide. One of the victims, 18-year-old Jordanne Michele Murray, was Peterson's former girlfriend, and it was believed that a dispute within the apartment motivated the shooting.

The 2000 Jarafa mosque massacre was an attack on members of Ansar al-Sunna praying at a mosque in Jarafa, a village in the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan on December 8, 2000. A lone gunman, Abbas al-Baqir Abbas, a member of Takfir wal-Hijra, opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle during evening prayers, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 30 others, before he was shot dead by police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westroads Mall shooting</span> 2007 mass shooting in Omaha, Nebraska

On December 5, 2007, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins shot and killed eight people and wounded four others in a Von Maur department store at Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, before committing suicide by shooting himself in the head. It was the deadliest mass murder in Nebraska since the rampage of Charles Starkweather in 1958. It is also the deadliest mass shooting in Nebraska history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbria shootings</span> 2010 shooting spree in Cumbria, England

The Cumbria shootings were a shooting spree that occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, taxi driver Derrick Bird, killed twelve people and injured eleven others in Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Along with the 1987 Hungerford massacre and the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, it is one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history. The shootings ended when Bird killed himself in a wooded area after abandoning his car in the village of Boot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alphen aan den Rijn shopping mall shooting</span> Mass shooting in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

On 9 April 2011, six people were killed by a gunman who entered the Ridderhof mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, a town approximately 33 kilometres (21 mi) south-west of Amsterdam. Using a rifle, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis shot several people and then killed himself, reportedly with a different firearm. There were seven deaths, including the killer, and 17 wounded, making it the deadliest attack in the Netherlands since the 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family.

The Romanshorn shooting was an act of mass murder that occurred in the town of Romanshorn, Switzerland, on August 30, 1912. On that evening, Hermann Schwarz, a 25-year-old local resident recently discharged from the army, opened fire at people in the street from the second-story window of his apartment. In the initial shooting and the following siege Schwarz shot a total of twelve men, six of them fatally, before managing to escape into a nearby forest. While police and townsmen engaged in an extensive search operation the gunman killed another person and evaded capture until the next day, when he was shot and wounded and subsequently taken into custody.

On August 13, 2012, a local constable was shot and killed in College Station, Texas, by the man to whom he was serving a legal notice. Other officers came to the scene and engaged in a shootout that lasted for approximately thirty minutes, during which one bystander was killed and officers were injured. The suspect, who was shot and fatally wounded in the gunfight, was later identified as 35-year-old Thomas Alton Caffall III. Police found a Vz 58 Tactical Sporter rifle, a Mosin–Nagant M91/30 rifle with a bayonet, a .40-caliber SIG Sauer P226 pistol stolen from a police officer, and a PSL rifle with a scope in his house after the shooting.

On August 24, 2012, a gunman shot and killed a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York City. Following the initial shooting, the gunman, 58-year-old Jeffrey T. Johnson, was fatally shot by police officers after raising his weapon at them. Nine bystanders were wounded by stray bullets fired by the officers and ricocheting debris, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Santa Monica shootings</span> Shooting spree in Santa Monica, California, US

On June 7, 2013, a spree shooting occurred in Santa Monica, California. Its catalyst was a domestic dispute and subsequent fire at a home, followed by a series of shootings near and on the Santa Monica College campus. Six people were killed, including the suspect, and four injured. The shooter — 23-year-old John Zawahri — was killed by police officers when he exchanged gunfire with them at the Santa Monica College library.

On June 30, 2017, at around 2:45 pm EDT, a doctor opened fire at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in the Bronx, New York City, United States, killing a doctor on the 17th floor and wounding six people on the 16th floor with an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle. The shooter was later identified as 45-year-old Nigerian-born Dr. Henry Michael Bello, a family physician formerly employed by the hospital.

A mass shooting occurred on September 24, 2017, when a gunman opened fire at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, part of the Greater Nashville area, killing one person and injuring six others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Tehama shootings</span> 2017 shooting spree in Rancho Tehama, California, US

On November 13–14, 2017, a series of shootings occurred in Rancho Tehama, an unincorporated community in Tehama County, California, U.S. The gunman, 44-year-old Kevin Janson Neal, died by suicide after a Corning police officer rammed and stopped his stolen vehicle. During the shooting spree, five people were killed and eighteen others were injured at eight separate crime scenes, including an elementary school. Ten people suffered bullet wounds and eight were cut by flying glass caused by the gunfire. The injured victims were transported to several area clinics and hospitals.

The 2018 Toronto shooting, known locally as the Danforth shooting, was a mass shooting that occurred on Danforth Avenue in the Greektown neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the night of July 22, 2018. Faisal Hussain killed two people and wounded thirteen using a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-calibre handgun. He died by suicide after a shootout with Toronto Police Service (TPS) officers. Despite a year long investigation, authorities were unable to determine a motive for the shooting. They noted that Hussain had mental health issues and a long time obsession with violence.

On February 15, 2019, a mass shooting took place at Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Six people died, including the perpetrator, 45-year-old former employee Gary Montez Martin, who was shot and killed by responding police officers. Six others were injured, including five police officers.

The 1991 New Zealand bravery awards were announced via a Special Honours List dated 19 December 1991. Twelve of the 33 recipients were recognised for acts of bravery during the Aramoana Massacre on 13 November 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting</span> Mass shooting in Gilroy, California

On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California. The gunman killed three people and wounded 17 others before killing himself after a shootout with responding police officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland–Odessa shootings</span> Spree shooting in Midland and Odessa, Texas

On August 31, 2019, a spree shooting occurred in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa, involving a gunman shooting multiple people from a vehicle. Eight people were killed, including the perpetrator, and twenty-five people were injured, including three police officers. It was the third major mass shooting to take place in the United States in August 2019, following the El Paso Walmart shooting and the Dayton shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwood Park Mall shooting</span> Shooting in Greenwood, Indiana

On July 17, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, United States. The shooting occurred at 5:56 p.m. EDT (UTC−04:00) and lasted less than one minute. Three people were killed and two others were injured in the shooting before the perpetrator, 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman, was fatally shot by 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, a legally-armed civilian bystander.

On May 15, 2023, a mass shooting occurred in Farmington, New Mexico, United States. Three people were killed, and six others were wounded, before the shooter, 18-year-old Beau Wilson, was killed by police.

References

  1. 1 2 "5 dead in Saipan shooting"
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Police Identify Gunman in Saipan Rampage"
  3. "Deaths in Saipan shooting". Aljazeera.com. November 20, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "Saipan Shooting: Gunman Opens Fire On Pacific Island; 5 Dead"
  5. 1 2 "Authorities: Gunman kills 4, wounds 6 on Saipan"
  6. "Victims named in Saipan shooting". www.kuam.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.