Spree killing - Definition and Overview

A spree killer is someone who embarks on a murderous rampage. This is a slightly ambiguous term, with similarities to mass murderer and serial killer.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders." Serial killers are different in that they have cooling off periods between attacks, while mass murderers typically stick to one location.

Spree killers

• Howard Unruh (1949)
• Charles Starkweather (1958)
• Charles Whitman (1963)
• James Oliver Huberty (San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre — 1984)
• Michael Robert Ryan (The Hungerford Massacre — 1987)
• Julian Knight (the Hoddle Street massacre — 1987)
• Marc Lepine (the Montreal Massacre — 1989)
• Julio Gonzalez (the Happyland Fire — 1990)
• Colin Ferguson (1993)
• Thomas Hamilton (The Dunblane massacre — 1996)
• Martin Bryant (the Port Arthur massacre — 1996)
• Andrew Cunanan (1997)
• Mark O. Barton (1999)
• Benjamin Nathaniel Smith (1999)
• Columbine High School Massacre (1999)
• Nikolay Soltys (2001)
• Friedrich Leibacher (2001)
• Robert Steinhäuser (the Erfurt massacre — 2002)
• the Beltway Snipers (2002)
• the Interstate 270 Sniper (2003)

In many countries, the acts of spree killers have been catalysts for the tightening of gun control laws.

See also

• Amok
• Going postal
• Homicide
• Mass murder
• Serial killer
• Thrill killing

Fiction

• Helen Zahavi: Dirty Weekend