Luby's massacre
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (April 2007) |
| Luby's massacre | |
| Location | Killeen, Texas, United States |
|---|---|
| Date | Wednesday, October 16, 1991 12:35 p.m. – 12:51 p.m. (UTC-5) |
| Attack type | Mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre |
| Weapon(s) | Glock 17, Ruger P89 |
| Deaths | 24 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 20 |
| Perpetrator(s) | George Jo Hennard |
The Luby's massacre was a mass murder that took place on October 16, 1991 in Killeen, Texas, United States when George Jo Hennard drove his pickup truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot and killed 23 people, wounded another 20 and then committed suicide by shooting himself. It remained the deadliest shooting rampage in American history until the Virginia Tech Massacre.
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[edit] Killings
On October 16, 1991, Hennard drove his 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck through the front window of a Luby's Cafeteria at 1705 East Central Texas Expressway in Killeen, yelled "This is what Bell County has done to me!", then opened fire on the restaurant's patrons and staff with a Glock 17 pistol and later a Ruger P89. He stalked, shot, and killed 23 people and wounded another 20 before committing suicide. About 80 people were in the restaurant at the time. The first victim was Dr. Michael Griffith, a local veterinarian, who ran up to the driver's side of the pickup truck after it came through the window to offer assistance. During the shooting, Hennard approached Suzanna Gratia Hupp and her parents. Hupp had actually brought a handgun to the Luby's Cafeteria that day, but had left it in her vehicle due to the laws in force at the time, forbidding citizens from carrying firearms. According to her later testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill[1] and in general [2][3], after she realized that her firearm was not in her purse, but "a hundred feet away in [her] car", her father charged at Hennard in an attempt to subdue him, only to be gunned down; a short time later, her mother was also shot and killed. (Hupp later expressed regret for abiding by the law in question by leaving her firearm in her car, rather than keeping it on her person[1].) One patron, Tommy Vaughn, threw himself through a plate-glass window to allow others to escape.[4] Hennard allowed a mother and her four-year-old child to leave. He reloaded several times and still had ammunition remaining when he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after being cornered and wounded by police.[5][6][7]
[edit] Victims
Fatalities from this shooting included:
| Name | Age | Home |
|---|---|---|
| Patricia Brawn Carney | 57 | Belton, Texas |
| Jimmie Eugene Caruthers | 48 | Austin, Texas |
| Kriemhild A. Davis | 62 | Killeen, Texas |
| Lt. Col. Steven Charles Dody | 43 | Fort Hood, Texas |
| Al Gratia | 71 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Ursula Edith Marie Gratia | 67 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Debra Ann Gray | 33 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Dr. Michael Edward Griffith | 48 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Venice Ellen Henehan | 70 | Metz, Missouri |
| Clodine Delphia Humphrey | 63 | Marlin, Texas |
| Sylvia Mathilde King | 64 | Marlin, Texas |
| Zona Mae Lynn | 45 | Marlin, Texas |
| Connie Dean Peterson | 55 | Austin, Texas |
| Ruth Marie Pujol | 36 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Su-zann Neal Rashott | 30 | San Antonio, Texas |
| John Raymond Romero Jr | 33 | Copperas Cove, Texas |
| Thomas Earl Simmons | 55 | Killeen, Texas |
| Glen Arval Spivey | 44 | Harker Heights, Texas |
| Nancy Faye Stansbury | 44 | Harker Heights, Texas |
| Olgica Andonovsk Taylor | 45 | Waco, Texas |
| James Walter Welsh | 75 | Waco, Texas |
| Lula Belle Welsh | 64 | Waco, Texas |
| Iva Juanita Williams | 64 | Temple, Texas |
[edit] Perpetrator
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2008) |
The massacre was carried out by George Jo Hennard, a 35-year-old former seaman. He was born on October 15, 1956 in Sayre, Pennsylvania, the son of a surgeon and a homemaker. Upon graduating from high school in 1974, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy and served for two years until he was honorably discharged in 1976. He later enlisted in the Merchant Marines in 1977, however he was court martialed in 1981 after he was arrested for drug possession. His seaman's papers were suspended the following year for racist remarks on altercation, and were later revoked in 1989, after his second arrest. He became a resident of Henderson, Texas in February 1991, and was unemployed in the months prior to the massacre.
[edit] Consequences
Reacting to the massacre,[8] in 1995 the Texas Legislature passed a shall-issue gun law, which requires that all qualifying applicants be issued a Concealed Handgun License (Texas's required permit to carry concealed weapons), removing the personal discretion of the issuing authority to deny such licenses. The law had been campaigned for by Suzanna Hupp, who was present at the Luby's massacre where both of her parents were shot and killed. Hupp testified across the country in support of concealed-handgun laws, and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1996.[9] The law was signed by then-Governor George W. Bush and became part of a broad movement to allow U.S. citizens to carry concealed firearms.[10]
[edit] The present site
The Killeen Luby's closed and reopened after cleanup and redesigning the front wall of the building, only to struggle throughout the following years and finally shut down operations on September 9, 2000. A Chinese-American buffet, Yank Sing, currently occupies the building and is ranked one of the top buffets in the central texas area.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Transcription of Suzanna Hupp's testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill
- ^ Transcript from The McLaughlin Group, broadcast May 20-21, 2000
- ^ Video of Hupp's testimony before Congress, regarding bans on certain firearms
- ^ Houston Chronicle article 2001 "Shooting rampage at Killeen Luby's left 24 dead"
- ^ Hayes, Thomas C (1991-10-17). "Gunman Kills 22 and Himself in Texas Cafeteria". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9C04E3D8113BF934A25753C1A967958260. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ KWTX, Luby’s Massacre Remains Among Nation’s Worst Mass Shootings
- ^ Kelly, Steve (1991-12-06). "Texas Chiropractor -- One of 24 Slain in Tragedy". Dynamic Chiropractic 09 (25). http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/09/25/08.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
- ^ Douglas, Carlyle C (1991-10-20). "Dead: 23 Texans and 1 Anti-Gun Measure". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0D91031F933A15753C1A967958260. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ U.S. Department of Justice, National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women, Biographical Information
- ^ Verhovek, Sam Howe (1995-03-06). "States Seek to Let Citizens Carry Concealed Weapons". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DB1438F935A35750C0A963958260. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- Killeen Daily Herald "Luby's tragedy: 15 years later" (October 15, 2006)
- CNN.com "Luby's in Killeen, Texas, site of 1991 massacre, closes its doors" (September 11, 2000)
- San Antonio Express-News Guns in America, Part II, "Texas massacre, fear of crime spur concealed-gun laws"
- Hupp's comments to congress on surviving the massacre and losing her parents to Hennard.
Coordinates: 31°05′37″N 97°43′26″W / 31.09361°N 97.72389°W
