Spree killer

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." Serial killers are different in that they have cooling off periods between attacks, while mass murderers typically stick to one location.

Notably large spree killings in history include:

• Uireyeong massacre (South Korea, 1982) - Woo Bum-kon killed 57 and then himself, using grenades and a high-powered rifle.

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

• Virginia Tech massacre (United States of America, 2007) - Seung-Hui Cho, using two pistols, killed 32 and then himself.

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

• The Cassanova Killer(United States of America, 1974) - Paul John Knowles went on a murderous spree across northern Florida killed 18-35, over five months before he was shot dead by a police officer.

See also

• Running amok
• Going postal
• Homicide
• Mass murder
• Serial killer
• Thrill killing

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.