The two latest shootings (one in AL, the other in Germany) led me to wonder: homicidal maniacs have been around forever, and quickly reloaded semi-automatic pistols have been around since WW1. I would presume therefore that massacres of this kind have been happening for awhile. Can anyone give some cites?
ETA, especially I would like to hear about “amok nut” shootings. Crime related gun deaths such as the Valentine’s Day Massacre, or people killed in holdups would be another subject.
Charles Whitman killed 14 and wounded 32 in 1966. It looks like his weapon of choice was a bolt-action hunting rifle, though he also had a pump-action rifle, a shotgun he sawed down (NFA 1934 violation), a semi-automatic M1 Carbine (not M1 Rifle), and a revolver.
Addendum to original post: I neglected to make clear that I was interested in shootings prior to 1968, when gun control first became an issue of U.S. public awareness with the federal gun control act of that year.
Speaking of massacres immortalized in country classics, there’s also Charlie Lawson who killed seven members of his family and himself for no apparent reason on Christmas 1929: Murder of the Lawson family - Wikipedia
I tend to think that the only reason why we know about this one in particular is that someone wrote a popular song about it. I’m guessing that crazy folks flipping out and killing a bunch of people only rated as local news before the days of television and that there’s probably many such incidents which these days would have rated as national breaking news, but only made the local papers and are forgotten by all but local historians.
Though my wife threw out the particular work, using as an excuse that it did not include it was not regarding specifics about my particular brood, includesFEW representatives of my family, and NONE as current habitants of Wisconsin’s asylums. Saying so, by far, does not MAKE it so.
Google “list of school related attacks” for shooting, bombings, flame throwing, scalping (whoa - SCALPINGS!!) etc… It gets you to Wiki for some very gristly lists. Not specific to the OP but they are in there.
An author named Harold Schechter wrote a couple of books (“Fiend” and “Deviant” and some others) about VERY young serial killers. If I’m not mistaken one of them focused on one criminal in particular, but also highlighted kids who kill throughout. I believe his point was that the new “wave of school shootings” was nothing of the sort but had actually been going on at a fairly steady rate for…well, forever. Much before the time period you’re questioning about. The books are good, easy reads…I just can’t remember which of them had the particular info you want.
I found one while copying an obituary from the local paper for a patron - I forget what year but sometime in the early 20’s, a guy shot and killed his entire extended family and then ran. The sheriff’s deputies shot him. The article included the detail that he dragged his father-in-law out from under the bed to shoot him.
I mean, it wouldn’t have been national news at the time, of course. News was smaller then.