Mass murder

Act of murdering many people in a short span

This article is about killing of multiple people by individuals and non-state groups. For killing of people by governments, see Mass killings.

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

For broader coverage of this topic, see Massacre.

Part of a series on

Homicide
Murder

Note: Varies by jurisdiction

* Assassination
* Attempted murder
* Child murder
* Consensual homicide
* Contract killing
* Crime of passion
* Depraved-heart murder
* Felony murder rule
* Foeticide
* Honor killing
* Human cannibalism
* Child cannibalism
* Human sacrifice
* Child sacrifice
* Internet homicide
* Lonely hearts killer
* Lust murder
* Lynching
* Mass murder
* Mass shooting
* Mass stabbing
* Misdemeanor murder
* Murder for body parts
* Murder–suicide
* Poisoning
* Proxy murder
* Pseudocommando
* Serial killer
* Angel of mercy
* Spree killer
* Thrill killing
* Torture murder
* Vehicle-ramming attack
* Wrongful execution
* Judicial murder

Manslaughter

* In English law
* In US law
* Voluntary manslaughter
* Negligent homicide
* Reckless homicide
* Vehicular homicide

Non-criminal homicide

Note: Varies by jurisdiction

* War
* Assisted suicide
* Capital punishment
* Euthanasia
* Foeticide
* Justifiable homicide
* "License to kill"

Family

* Avunculicide/Nepoticide
* Familicide
* Mariticide
* Uxoricide
* Prolicide
* Filicide
* Infanticide
* Neonaticide
* Siblicide
* Fratricide
* Sororicide
* Parricide
* Matricide
* Patricide
* Senicide

Other

* Crucifixion
* Deicide
* Democide
* Friendly fire
* Gendercide
* Femicide
* Androcide
* Genocide
* Omnicide
* Regicide
* Stoning
* Suspicious death
* Tyrannicide
* War crime

* v
* t
* e

Mass murder is the violent crime of killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity.[1][2] A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more persons kill several others.[3][4] Data suggests that approximately 30% of mass murderers die in the act.[5]

In the United States, Congress defined mass murders as the killing of three or more persons during an event with no "cooling-off period" between the homicides.[6] The Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012, passed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, clarified the statutory authority for federal law enforcement agencies, including those in the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, to assist state law enforcement agencies, and mandated across federal agencies a definition of "mass killing" as three or more killings during an incident.[7][8][9][10] A mass murder may be further classified as a mass shooting or a mass stabbing. Mass murderers differ from spree killers, who kill at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders and are not defined by the number of victims, and serial killers, who kill people over long periods of time.[11]

## By terrorist organizations

[edit]

See also: List of terrorist incidents

Many terrorist groups in recent times have used the tactic of killing many victims to fulfil their political aims. Such incidents have included:

* 33 civilians killed in the Başbağlar attack by the PKK on July 5, 1993;
* 19 American airmen killed in the Khobar Towers bombing on June 25, 1996, by Hezbollah Al-Hejaz;
* 2,977 people killed by al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks of 2001;
* 193 people killed in the 2004 Madrid train bombings by al-Qaeda;
* 334 (including 186 children) killed in the Beslan school siege on September 1–4, 2004 by Riyad-us Saliheen;
* 52 killed in the 2005 London bombings by Islamic terrorists;
* 166 killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba;
* 156 children and teachers killed in the 2014 Peshawar school massacre by Tehrik-i-Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan;
* 1,095 killed in the Camp Speicher massacre by the Islamic State;
* 224 people killed in the Metrojet Flight 9268 by the Islamic State;
* 130 killed as the result of the November 2015 Paris attacks by the Islamic State;
* 1,163 killed in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel by Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups;

## By cults

[edit]

Certain cults, especially religious cults, have committed a number of mass killings and mass murder–suicides.

* Jim Jones' Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, where 919 people died in 1978
* Order of the Solar Temple in Canada, Switzerland, and France, where 74 died in 1994, 1995, and 1997
* Shoko Asahara's Aum Shinrikyo, which killed 14 in Tokyo, Japan, in 1995
* Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God in Uganda, where 778 died in 2000

## By individuals and governments

[edit]

The funeral for sextuple axe murder victims in Huittinen, Finland in 1943, committed by Toivo Koljonen This Airbus A320, registration D-AIPX, was destroyed while operating Germanwings Flight 9525, having been intentionally crashed into the Alps by its co-pilot, killing all 150 people on board.

See also: List of rampage killers, mass shooting, state terrorism, suicide attack, and vehicle-ramming attack

Mass murderers may be categorized into killers of family, of coworkers, of students, and of random strangers. Their motives vary.[12] One motivation for mass murder is revenge, but other motivations are possible, including the need for attention or fame.[13][14][15]

Several autocratic regimes have been known to have ordered mass murders including genocide and politicide. Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Vasili Blokhin's war crime of killing of 7,000 Polish prisoners of war, shot over 28 days, was one of the most organized and protracted mass murders by a single individual on record.[16]

### Law enforcement response and countermeasures

[edit]

Analysis of the Columbine High School massacre and other incidents where law enforcement officers waited for backup has resulted in changed recommendations regarding what victims, bystanders, and law enforcement officers should do. In the Columbine shooting, the perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were able to murder 13 people, then commit suicide before the first SWAT team even entered the school. Average response time by law enforcement to a mass shooting is typically much longer than the time the shooter is engaged in killing. While immediate action may be extremely dangerous, it could save lives which would be lost if victims and bystanders involved in the situation remain passive, or law enforcement response is delayed until overwhelming force can be deployed. It is recommended that victims and bystanders involved in the incident take active steps to flee, hide, or fight the shooter and that law enforcement officers present or first arriving at the scene attempt immediately to engage the shooter. In many instances, immediate action by victims, bystanders, or law enforcement officers has saved lives.[17] However, law enforcement programs and actions have so far been unable to reduce the total number of incidents. In 2020, a record number of 600 mass shootings occurred.[18]

## Criticism as an analytical category

[edit]

Commentators have pointed out that there are a wide variety of ways that homicides with more than several victims might be classified. Such incidents can be, and have been even in recent decades, classified many different ways including "as a mass shooting; as a school shooting; as mass murder; as workplace violence...; as a crime involving an assault rifle; as a case of a mentally ill person committing acts of violence; and so on."[19]

How such rarely occurring incidents of homicide are classified tends to change significantly with time. "In the 1960s and 1970s,... it was understood that the key feature of [a number of such] cases was a high body count. These early discussions of mass murder lumped together [a variety of] cases that varied along what would come to be seen as important dimensions:

* Time: Did the killings occur more or less simultaneously, or did they extend over several days, months, or years?
* Place: Did the killings occur in a single location, or in a variety of places?
* Method: How were the victims killed?"[19]

In the late decades of the 20th century and early years of the 2000s, the most popular classifications moved to include method, time and place.

While such classifications may assist in gaining human meaning, as human-selected categories, they can also carry significant meaning and reflect a particular point of view of the commentator who assigned the descriptor.[19]

## See also

[edit]

* Mass killing
* Crimes against humanity
* Genocide
* Gun violence
* List of rampage killers
* Mass destruction
* Mass grave
* School shooting
* Suicide attack
* Terrorism
* War crime

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Duwe, Grant (2007). Mass Murder in the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 15\. ISBN 978-0-7864-3150-2.
2. ^ Aggrawal, A. (2005). "Mass Murder". In Payne-James JJ; Byard RW; Corey TS; Henderson C (eds.). Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine (PDF). Vol. 3\. Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-547970-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
3. ^ "Serial Murder – Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators" (PDF). Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2005. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
4. ^ Clues to Mass Rampage Killers: Deep Backstage, Hidden Arsenal, Clandestine Excitement, Randall Collins, The Sociological Eye, September 1, 2012
5. ^ Christian, Jarrett (July 22, 2025). "What kind of mass murderer is likely to die in the act, and why should we care?". The British Psychological Society. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
6. ^ "Definitions of 'mass shooting' vary". WTHR. April 16, 2021. Archived from the original on November 19, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
7. ^ Krouse, William J.; Richardson, Daniel J. (July 30, 2015). Mass Murder with Firearms: Incidents and Victims, 1999–2013 (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 26.
8. ^ Booty, Marisa; O’Dwyer, Jayne; Webster, Daniel; McCourt, Alex; Crifasi, Cassandra (2019). "Describing a "mass shooting": the role of databases in understanding burden". Injury Epidemiology. 6 (47): 47. doi:10.1186/s40621-019-0226-7. PMC 6889601. PMID 31828004.
9. ^ Ye Hee Lee, Michelle (December 3, 2015). "Obama's inconsistent claim on the 'frequency' of mass shootings in the U.S. compared to other countries". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
10. ^ Albright, Mandi (March 17, 2021). "Spa killings another grisly chapter in Georgia history". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
11. ^ Peña, Pablo A.; Jena, Anupam (September 16, 2021). "Mass Shootings in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic". JAMA Network Open. 4 (9): e2125388. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.25388. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 8446816. PMID 34529068.
12. ^ Kluger, Jeffrey (April 19, 2007). "Inside a Mass Murderer's Mind". Time. Archived from the original on April 22, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
13. ^ "ABC News: What Pushes Shooters to Mass Murder?". Abcnews.go.com. February 9, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
14. ^ "Notoriety Drives Mass Shooters". Newser. February 10, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
15. ^ "ABC News: Psychiatrist: Showing Video Is 'Social Catastrophe'". Abcnews.go.com. April 19, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
16. ^ Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2004). Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Knopf. p. 334. ISBN 1-4000-4230-5.
17. ^ Erica Goode (April 6, 2013). "In Shift, Police Advise Taking an Active Role to Counter Mass Attacks". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
18. ^ "Past Summary Ledgers | Gun Violence Archive". www.gunviolencearchive.org. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
19. ^ a b c Best, Joel (June 16, 2013). "How Should We Classify the Sandy Hook Killings?: The social construction of a mass shooting epidemic". Reason. Retrieved June 18, 2013. "it is possible to characterize Newtown as an instance of a lot of different social problems: as a mass shooting; as a school shooting; as mass murder; as workplace violence (remember the staff members who were killed were at work); as a crime involving an assault rifle; as a case of a mentally ill person committing acts of violence; and so on. We expect journalists to have a sort of sociological imagination, to help us understand incidents as instances. And we can understand why advocates for gun control, mental health, or other causes might favor particular labels but we need to appreciate there is no One True Classification, that the categories we use are merely tools that may help us better understand what [is] happening in our society."

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mass murderers.

* What makes a Mass Killer?
* Mass Murder: A Small Person's Way to Immortality
* Mass shootings interactive map
* Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence
* The real causes of mass murder by James Alan Fox. Boston.com, January 16, 2011.

* v
* t
* e

Lists of massacres

* List of massacres at sea

By past country
or territory

* Italian Social Republic
* Mandatory Palestine
* Ottoman Bulgaria
* Ottoman Syria
* Roman Judea
* Soviet Union
* Yugoslavia

By country
or territory

* Afghanistan
* Albania
* Algeria
* Argentina
* Australia
* Azerbaijan
* Bangladesh
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Colombia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Dominican Republic
* Egypt
* El Salvador
* Ethiopia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Hungary
* India
* Jammu and Kashmir
* Nagaland
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Ireland
* Israel
* Jerusalem
* Italy
* Jamaica
* Japan
* Kazakhstan
* Kenya
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Lebanon
* Libya
* Lithuania
* Malaysia
* Mexico
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* New Zealand
* Nigeria
* North Korea
* North Macedonia
* Pakistan
* Palestinian territories
* List of Palestine lists
* Peru
* Philippines
* Poland
* Puerto Rico
* Romania
* Russia
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Serbia
* Singapore
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Solomon Islands
* South Africa
* South Korea
* South Sudan
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Sudan
* Switzerland
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste
* Turkey
* Uganda
* Ukraine
* United States
* Venezuela
* Vietnam
* Yemen

By conflict

* 1948 Palestine war
* Algerian Civil War
* Bosnian War
* Croatian War of Independence
* Eritrean War of Independence
* Finnish Civil War
* Greco-Turkish War
* Kosovo War
* Mali War
* Sudanese civil war
* Syrian civil war
* World War I
* World War II
* WWII in Yugoslavia

By group

* Armenians
* Azerbaijanis
* Hazaras
* Indigenous Australians
* Kurdish people
* Nizari Ismailis
* Turkish people

See also|

* List of genocides

* Massacres
* Massacres by country
* Massacres by year

* v
* t
* e

List of terrorist incidents by year

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template