Luby's massacre

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Luby's massacre
Location Killeen, Texas, United States
Date Wednesday, October 16, 1991
Attack type mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre
Weapon(s) Glock 17, Ruger P89
Deaths 24 (including the perpetrator)
Injured 20
Perpetrator(s) George Hennard

The Luby's massacre was a mass killing 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.

Contents

[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. About 80 people were in the restaurant at the time. He stalked, shot, and killed 23 people and wounded another 20 before committing suicide. During the shooting, he 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[4].) One patron, Tommy Vaughn, threw himself through a plate-glass window to allow others to escape.[5] 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.[6][7][8]

[edit] Consequences

Reacting to the massacre,[9] in 1995 the Texas Legislature passed a shall-issue gun law allowing Texas citizens with the required permit to carry concealed weapons. The law had been campaigned for by Suzanna Hupp, who was present at the Luby's massacre and both of whose 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.[10] The law was signed by then-Governor George W. Bush and became part of a broad movement to allow U.S. citizens to easily obtain permits to carry concealed weapons.[11]

[edit] Comparisons

The Luby's massacre remained the deadliest criminal mass shooting by a single gunman in United States history until April 16, 2007, when the events comprising the Virginia Tech massacre occurred.

[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] The site

The Killeen Luby's closed and reopened after cleanup, only to struggle throughout the following years and finally driven to shut down operations on September 9, 2000. A Chinese buffet, Yank Sing, currently occupies the building.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Transcription of Suzanna Hupp's testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill
  2. ^ Transcript from The McLaughlin Group, broadcast May 20-21, 2000
  3. ^ Video of Hupp's testimony before Congress, regarding bans on certain firearms
  4. ^ Transcription of Suzanna Hupp's testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill
  5. ^ Houston Chronicle article 2001 "Shooting rampage at Killeen Luby's left 24 dead"
  6. ^ Hayes, Thomas C. "Gunman Kills 22 and Himself in Texas Cafeteria", The New York Times, 1991-10-17. Retrieved on 2007-08-15. 
  7. ^ KWTX, Luby’s Massacre Remains Among Nation’s Worst Mass Shootings
  8. ^ Kelly, Steve (1991-12-06). "Texas Chiropractor -- One of 24 Slain in Tragedy". Dynamic Chiropractic 09 (25). 
  9. ^ Douglas, Carlyle C. "Dead: 23 Texans and 1 Anti-Gun Measure", The New York Times, 1991-10-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  10. ^ U.S. Department of Justice, National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women, Biographical Information
  11. ^ Verhovek, Sam Howe. "States Seek to Let Citizens Carry Concealed Weapons", The New York Times, 1995-03-06. 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"

Coordinates: 31°05′37″N, 97°43′26″W

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