On 5 June 1931, 42-year-old plantation laborer Graciano Bilas killed two people and injured 29 others at several locations aboard the Empress of Canada in the Pacific Ocean, off the eastern coast of Japan.[1][2][3] Bilas, a Filipino migrant worker in Hawaii, was tried in Hong Kong the same month, charged only with the killing of one victim, Chinese crew member Chan Yue.[2] He claimed that Japanese ship staff had planned to kill him, with doctors ascribing a manic depressive psychosis to Bilas based on other behaviour displayed after the attack. In July, Bilas was found insane and committed to a psychiatric hospital.[4]
1950s
Nainital, India (1950)
On 21 April 1950, a drunk Gurkha soldier stabbed 22 guests at a wedding in Nainital, India., all of them apparently fatally. The man, who was armed with a machete, was enraged by a low caste money lender marrying a girl of the higher social standing Brahmin caste. All of the victims were members of the Harijan caste.[5][6][7][8]
On 21 August 1952, 25-year-old Tore Hedin killed nine people around Skåne County, Sweden, after his ex-girlfriend, Ulla Östberg, reported him for domestic abuse. He first killed his parents and set their house on fire.[9] He then went to Östberg's workplace, a retirement home, where Hedin killed her and the matron with an axe. He set the retirement home on fire as well, killing five of its residents. He then committed suicide by drowning in a nearby lake. Hedin had previously killed a friend of his in 1951, similarly burning the home to erase evidence.[10]
Mahagi, Belgian Congo & Mwanza, Tanganyika (1954 & 1957)
In 1954, Ugandan police constable William Unek used an axe to kill 21 people in one and a half hours near Mahagi, Belgian Congo.[11][12][13] Three years later, on 11 February 1957, Unek committed another mass murder in the Malampaka area, Tanganyika, killing 36 people using an axe, a rifle, as well as burning and strangulation.[14][15][16] Unek was killed during a manhunt after police set fire to a hut he was hiding him and fatally shot him as he fled.[15][17][18]
On 20 August 1960, 21-year-old farmer Jorge Valenzuela Torres murdered his romantic partner and five of her children with a scythe at their home in Coihueco, Chile, before fleeing. He was arrested the following month and executed in 1963.
On the night of 13–14 July 1966, Richard Speck killed eight student nurses after breaking into their bedroom dormitory in Chicago, United States, holding them captive and stabbing or strangling each of them throughout the night.[19][20] A ninth student nurse escaped by hiding under a bed.[21] Speck was identified after a suicide attempt, when he was taken to the hospital and a resident physician recognized Speck's tattoo from a description in the news.[22]
On 3 June 1982, 28-year-old Lee Chi-hang killed six people in two knife attacks in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He first killed his mother and sister, also injuring two neighbours as he fled. Lee then entered Anne Anne Kindergarten and stabbed 34 children, killing four of them, also injuring several bystanders, before he was arrested by police. Lee, previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, was found to be insane and was placed in a mental institution.[23]
After the stabbing, security measures at nursery schools were upgraded, and it was made compulsory for discharged patients of mental institutions to regularly attend psychiatric out-patient clinics.[24]
On 15 April 1987, 42-year-old farmer Wirjo killed 20 people and wounded 12 others with a parang and a sickle, in Banjarsari a village in Banyuwangi Regency, Indonesia.[25] The victims were neighbours, mostly farmers or children heading for school, with the injured including Wirjo's 4-year-old adoptive son. Wirjo was found the next day near the village, dead from suicide by hanging..[26][27][28]
On 8 March 1989, Paulino Fernández stabbed seven people to death and injured at least six others in Chantada, Spain, before killing himself.[29][30][31][32]
Nafang, China (1989)
On the afternoon of 19 March 1989, Huang Guozhen killed 16 or 17 people and injured two others in Nafang, a village in Guangxi, China. After becoming intoxicated, he set fire to his house and drove to his brother's house, killing his brother and his wife with a firewood knife. Guozhen then proceeded to travel to the local market and began to kill individuals at random, including children and the elderly. Sometime before the rampage killing, Huang became embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Huang Xiangbang.
Huang Guozhen was eventually subdued by bystanders Huang Guoqin and local CCP party secretary Zhou Youbang. He was arrested and tried ten days later in Qinzhou. He was sentenced to death in front of a crowd of 10,000 people and was quickly executed on the same day.[33]
1990s
Auckland, New Zealand (1990)
On 16 July 1990, 52-year-old mental hospital outpatient Pauline Janet Williamson attacked the courtyard of the Jewish Kadimah College's primary school in Central Auckland, New Zealand, stabbing four children.. As the pupils played in the school courtyard before school was due to start, Williamson ran onto the school courtyard, where 6 year olds Nicholas and Sam Henderson and Simon Clark, and 8-year-old Damon Bree were playing. She then produced a 4-inch, stay-sharp vegetable knife and began screaming antisemitic slogans and a Jewish surname (not one shared by any of the victims), before wildly lacerating these four children.[34] Williamson was eventually disarmed by a male teacher, Mr Yurovitch. The children, aged 6 to 8, were hospitalised immediately afterwards; all survived, after receiving intensive surgery. They were identified by police as 6-year-old twins Nicholas and Samuel Henderson; Simon Clark, 6, and Damon Bree, 8.
This apparently random act of antisemitic violence in New Zealand, a country known to be tolerant of its Jewish community, shocked many. However, it followed the desecration of several Jewish graves in Dunedin by two months, which itself was a copycat of an attack on Jewish graves in Carpentras, in the South of France.[35]
On 8 December 1994, 30-year-old David Cedric Morgan slashed fifteen people in a department store in Birmingham, England. Morgan, previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, hypomania and depressive psychosis, had previously complained of "evil thoughts" about attacking women and arrested before for attacking women in the street, each resulting in conditional discharges.[36] Three people were seriously injured and needed surgeries. In addition of those stabbed, five people were treated for shock.[37][38] Morgan was arrested by police after being confronted by an armed civilian.[36][39]
Morgan was later determined by a psychologist to be "vulnerable and isolated", but that he apparently suffered from no mental illnesses. Morgan was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 1996.[39][36] In 2002, he was transferred from the Broadmoor Hospital to a medium security unit where he would be allowed on escorted shopping trips as part of rehabilitation.[39] In 2006, Morgan, then 43 years old, was released into the community to go shopping. At the time he was being treated at the Stafford's St George's Hospital.[40]
Naples, Florida, US (1995)
In the early hours of 15 November 1995, 26-year old Brandy Bain Jennings and 19-year old Charles Jason Graves killed three former co-workers at a Cracker Barrel in Naples, Florida, United States. Jennings & Graves robbed the restaurant and slit the throats of 18-year old Jason Wiggins, 38-year old Dorothy Siddle, and 27-year old Vicki Smith. Both suspects were caught a year later in Las Vegas and were sentenced to death.[41]
Chenggu County, China (1998)
On 23 June 1998, 39-year-old farmer Yang Mingxin attacked fellow villagers with an axe in Chenggu County, Shaanxi, China. Nine people were killed and three were wounded. Yang, who was described as reticent, had refused to sell ten stolen geese for another farmer named Guo Baoning, and when the owner of the geese later caught him, Guo suspected Yang had informed on him. After a heated argument between the two, during which Guo threatened to kill Yang's family, Yang armed himself with an axe and hacked twelve villagers between 4 months and 71 years of age. Unable to locate Guo he eventually tried to commit suicide by drinking insecticide and hanging himself, but was rescued and taken to a hospital.[42][43][44]
Krông Pắk District, Vietnam (1998)
On 8 August 1998, 35-year-old rice farmer Dương Văn Môn killed twelve people and injured six in Krông Pắk District, Vietnam. Dương, a member of the Nùng minority, had attacked guests at his mother's funeral after repeated conflicts with other villagers regarding her burial,[45] further compounded by prior mental illness and financial troubles related to the arrangement of a traditional funeral feast.[46][47]
On the third day of the festivities, when his guests began to complain that there was not enough to drink and eat, Dương armed himself with two machete-like knives and began to attack his relatives and neighbours. He first stabbed an elderly woman preparing food in his house, as well as a child, and eventually began chasing people throughout the village. The dead included seven children, with his wife among the injured. Eleven died at the scene while one of the wounded died in hospital. Afterwards he tried to commit suicide by swallowing insecticide, but was forced to vomit it when he was captured by villagers 4+1⁄2 hours later. He was then arrested by police and brought to a hospital.[48][49][50][51] Môn was sentenced to death for the murders in November 1998.[52]
On 29 September 1999, 35-year-old Yasuaki Uwabe drove a car into Shimonoseki Station and then stabbed passers-by at random, killing five people and injuring 10 others, before being arrested at the scene. Uwabe was sentenced to death in 2002 and executed in 2012.[53]
On 8 June 2001, 37-year-old ex-convict Mamoru Takuma killed students and injured fifteen others at an elementary school in Ikeda, Japan. He worked as a janitor at the school, with the injured being thirteen students and two teachers. He was executed in 2004.[54]
On 14 January 2003, 31-year-old Kamel Bourgass stabbed four police officers in Manchester, England, killing anti-terrorism detective Stephen Oake. Bourgass had been caught up in an apartment search during an immigration operation and falsely believed police had come to arrest him for his involvement in a terror plot. He received life imprisonment.
Midlothian, Illinois, US
On 4 June 2004, 26-year-old Brett Carlson stabbed six people at a strip mall in Midlothian, United States, killing one-year-old Ashley Hurt. In 2007, Carlson was sentenced to 50 years in prison.[55][56][57]
Ruzhou, China
On 26 November 2004, 21-year-old Yan Yanming (Chinese: 闫彦明) entered a dormitory at the Ruzhou Number Two High School in Ruzhou, China on 26 November 2004, with a knife and attacked twelve boys, killing nine of them.[58][59] After the attack, Yan ran away from the school, but was arrested hours later after he survived a suicide attempt because his mother had reported his location to the Ruzhou police.[citation needed] After trial, Yan was sentenced to death and executed on 18 January 2005 in Pingdingshan.[60]
New York City, New York, US
Between 13 and 14 June 2006, 20-year-old homeless man Kenny Alexis injured four people within a 13-hour time span in Manhattan, United States. In 2009, Alexis was sentenced to 34 years in prison.[61][62]
Between 24 and 29 September 2006, 35-year-old Shi Yuejun killed twelve people and injured five in Liuhe County and Tonghua County, China. He had killed the first seven people, who were business acquaintances and their spouses, over past conflicts at work, leaving five of their relatives and neighbours injured. During the five-day manhunt, Shi killed another five people and injured one to evade arrest. He was sentenced to death and executed in December 2006.[63][64][65]
Tsuchiura, Japan
Masahiro Kanagawa's police mug shot
On 23 March 2008, Masahiro Kanagawa (金川 真大, Kanagawa Masahiro; 13 October 1983 – 21 February 2013) killed a 27-year-old man and wounded seven others in Tsuchiura, Japan. Police arrested Kanagawa, then 24, who was wanted in an earlier slaying of a 72-year-old man. The man told the investigators that he "just wanted to kill anyone".[66] The suspect stabbed the victims with two knives as they were walking along a short hallway connecting Arakawaoki Station.[67] The 27-year-old died as he was being rushed to a nearby hospital.[68] Police said that Kanagawa liked games and that he hid out in Akihabara while escaping.[69] Some media outlets claimed that he murdered people under the influence of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword.[70] He reportedly sought capital punishment.[67] Tomohiro Katō, who committed the Akihabara massacre, is alleged to have posted a message which referred to his case.[71] The Mito District Court sentenced him to death on 18 December 2009,[72] and he was executed by hanging on 21 February 2013.[73]
On 8 June 2008, Tomohiro Katō drove a rented truck into a crowd and then jumped out with a dagger. He stabbed at least twelve people before he was pursued and captured by police.[74][75][76][77] Four people died of stab wounds, and three died from the truck attack.[78]
Osaka, Japan
On 23 June 2008, 38-year-old Kazuka Oyama stabbed two university students and a company executive in the arm at Ōsaka Station, leaving them only with light injuries.[79] She was arrested the following day.[80]
On 9 August 2008, 47-year-old Tang Yongming killed one and injured two in Beijing, China, during a guided tour of the 13th-century Drum Tower during the 2008 Summer Olympics.[81] The attacker then leapt to his death from a 40-metre (130ft) high balcony on the Drum Tower.[82]
The victims were an American couple from Lakeville, Minnesota, Todd and Barbara Bachman, and their female Chinese tour guide.[83] Todd Bachman, who died in the attack, was the father of American athlete Elisabeth Bachman and the father-in-law of Team USA men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose team went on to win gold at the Olympic tournament.[84] Barbara Bachman was severely wounded but survived the attack.[85] She and the tour guide were listed in stable condition at a local hospital.[86] Elisabeth Bachman was also on the tour but was uninjured.[87]
Tang Yongming spent most of his life in the outskirts of Hangzhou, and was a metal presser at the Hangzhou Meter Factory for more than twenty years. He had no previous criminal record, according to investigators.[88][89] Investigators reported that Tang was distraught over family problems.[90] A colleague who knew Tang said that he had "an unyielding mouth", "grumbled a great deal", and was "very cynical".[89] Tang had recently lost his job, with a former co-worker saying that Tang "had a quick temper and was always complaining about society".[89] Police reported that Tang went through his second divorce in 2006 and grew increasingly despondent when his 21-year-old son started getting into trouble. The son was detained in May 2007 on suspicion of fraud, then received a suspended prison sentence in March 2008 for theft.[90]
Shortly after the attacks, the tower was closed to tourists with the surrounding area still open to tourists. Chinese officials strengthened their security measures to alleviate safety concerns. At the time, there were 110,000 officers were stationed in Beijing.[91] There were also 1.7 million volunteers in the city, including 1 million "social volunteers" who "[kept] an eye out for troublemakers".[92] Beijing Olympic official Wang Wei announced that there would be extra security checks implemented at some scenic areas, and large outdoor screens used to view the games around Beijing were muted or turned off to avoid large crowds.[91]
The Nonhyeon-dong massacre was a mass murder that occurred in the Gangnam-gu ward of Seoul, South Korea on 20 October 2008, when 30-year-old Jeong Sang-jin (Korean:정상진) set fire in a goshiwon and slashed thirteen women with a sashimi knife. A total of six people died in the incident and seven more were injured.[93][94] Jeong was sentenced to death on May 12, 2009.[95]
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