San Ysidro McDonald's massacre
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| McDonald's massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | San Diego, California, United States |
| Date | Wednesday, July 18, 1984 |
| Attack type | mass murder, massacre |
| Weapon(s) | Uzi, Browning HP, shotgun |
| Deaths | 22 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 19 |
| Perpetrator(s) | James Oliver Huberty |
The McDonald's massacre was an incident of mass murder which resulted in 21 deaths and 19 injuries at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. It was the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history at the time. The massacre was carried out by James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year-old former Union Metal Inc. welder from Canton, Ohio. In January 1984, Huberty had moved to San Ysidro with his wife and children, where he worked as a security guard until his dismissal one week prior to the murders. His apartment was located near the site of the shooting spree.
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[edit] Before the massacre
On the day before the massacre, Huberty had called a mental health center. The receptionist misspelled his name on intake. Since he had not claimed there was an immediate emergency, his call was not returned. Huberty had eaten at a McDonald's in Clairemont a few hours prior to the massacre.
Before Huberty left for McDonald's, his wife Etna asked him where he was going. Huberty responded that he was "hunting humans".[1] Earlier that day he had commented to his wife, "Society had its chance."[2] A witness, who spotted Huberty leave his apartment and proceed down San Ysidro Boulevard with two firearms, phoned police, but the dispatcher gave them the wrong address.
[edit] The mass murder
Huberty used a 9mm Uzi semi-automatic (the primary weapon fired in the massacre), a Winchester pump-action twelve-gauge shotgun, and a 9mm Browning HP in the restaurant, killing 21 people and wounding 19 others. Huberty's victims were predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American and ranged in age from 8 months to 74 years. The massacre began at 4 p.m. and lasted for 77 minutes. Huberty had spent 2156 rounds of ammunition before he was fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper, Chuck Foster, perched on the roof of a nearby post office.
Although Huberty stated during the massacre that he had killed thousands in Vietnam, he had never actually served in any military branch.
[edit] Victims
- Elsa Herlinda Borboa-Firro, 19 (McDonald's employee)
- Neva Denise Caine, 22 (McDonald's manager)
- Michelle Deanne Carncross, 18
- María Elena Colmenero-Silva, 19
- David Flores Delgado, 11
- Gloria López González, 23
- Omar Alonso Hernández, 11
- Blythe Regan Herrera, 31 (mother of Matao Herrera)
- Matao Herrera, 11
- Paulina Aquino López, 21 (McDonald's employee)
- Margarita Padilla, 18 (McDonald's employee)
- Claudia Pérez, 9
- Jose Rubén Lozano Pérez, 19
- Carlos Reyes, 8 months
- Jackie Lynn Wright Reyes, 18 (mother of Carlos Reyes)
- Victor Maxmillian Rivera, 25
- Arisdelsi Vuelvas Vargas, 31
- Hugo Luis Velazquez Vasquez, 45
- Laurence Herman "Gus" Versluis, 62
- Aida Velazquez Victoria, 69
- Miguel Victoria-Ulloa, 74 (husband of Aida Victoria)
[edit] Site
On September 26, 1984, McDonald's tore down the restaurant where the massacre occurred and gave the property to the city. They in turn established the Education Center as part of Southwestern Community College. This location was built in 1988 as an expansion of its off-campus locations. In front of the school is a memorial to the massacre victims, consisting of 21 hexagonal granite pillars ranging in height from one to six feet.
[edit] Lawsuit
In 1986, Etna Huberty, James Huberty's widow, unsuccessfully sued McDonald's and Babcock and Wilcox, his longtime former employer, in an Ohio state court for $27.88 million, claiming that the massacre was triggered by the combined mixture of McDonald's food and work around poisonous metals. She alleged that monosodium glutamate in the food, combined with the high levels of lead and cadmium in Huberty's body, induced delusions and uncontrollable rage. An autopsy did reveal high levels of the metals,[2] most likely built up from fumes inhaled during 14 years of welding. Autopsy results also revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the killings.
[edit] References in popular culture
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
The murders are reconstructed in The Sett (1996), a book by Ranulph Fiennes which deals with the subject of revenge killing.
Singer Kristin Hersh references Huberty in the Throwing Muses song "Hate My Way", a track from the band's eponymous debut album.
The Dead Milkmen refer to God speaking to a "Mr. Huberty" in their song "Take Me to the Specialist"
The White Supremacist band Ethnic Cleansing recorded a song in 1995 called "McMurder".
The band Macabre recorded a song about the incident called "McMassacre" included on the Gloom album released in 1987.
The 1985 movie Bloody Wednesday about a madman who goes on a killing spree in a coffee shop is supposedly based on the event.
