Spree killer

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A spree killer, also known as a rampage killer, is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on his victims in a short time in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders."^{[citation needed]} Serial killers are different in that they have cooling off periods between attacks, while mass murderers typically stick to one location.^{[citation needed]}

Notably large spree killings in history include:

Uireyeong massacre (South Korea, 1982) - Woo Bum-kon killed 57 and then himself in eight hours, using grenades and an M1 Carbine.

Port Arthur massacre (Australia, 1996) - Martin Bryant, using two semi-automatic weapons, a CAR-15 and an L1A1 SLR, killed 35 in 5 hours.

Virginia Tech massacre (United States of America, 2007) - Seung-Hui Cho, using two pistols, killed 32 and then himself in the course of about ten minutes.

Tsuyama massacre (Japan, 1938) - Mutsuo Toi, using an old Japanese rifle and swords, killed 30 and then himself in an hour and a half.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

Pan Pantziarka 2000, Lone Wolf, Virgin Publishing ISBN 0-7535-0437-5. This book looks at individual cases, including Thomas Hamilton, Martin Bryant and Mark Barton. It also discusses the wider social context, psychological factors and political fall-out from spree killing.