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."^{[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, 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.

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