The 9 Bloodiest Mass Shootings in US History

Mass Shootings in America

The American Dream is rooted in the belief that with hard work, perseverance and determination, anyone can easily prosper in the United States. But with that being said, the US is also an unpredictable country with high crime rates.

Of course, it may be easier to succeed in America, but we must embrace the stark reality that each year, innocent lives are claimed by mass shootings in America. Due to ineffective gun control laws, the image of modern American history has been tainted by numerous shooting incidences.

Here is a compilation of the 9 bloodiest mass shootings in modern American history.

Las Vegas Mass Shooting

October 1, 2017 will forever be remembered as a sorrowful day to Americans. On that fateful day, thousands of festival attendees made it to the Last Vegas Strip to enjoy a concert.

At 10 pm, Stephen Paddock, hiding from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, rained hundreds of bullets on the concertgoers. He killed 58 in addition to himself — over 700 people were wounded. Paddock was a 64-year-old real estate investor and a gambler. So far, Paddock committed the worst mass shooting incidence in American history.

Orlando Nightclub Carnage

The mass shooting at Orlando Nightclub comes in 3rd on the list of mass shootings in America. On June 12, 2016, the participants of an Orlando gay nightclub (named Pulse) were greeted with a fatal shower of bullets launched by 29-year-old Saddiqui Omar Mateen. The shooting killed 49 people and wounded over 50 others.

Police arrived at the scene and shot the culprit to death. FBI officials connect Mateen’s terrorist act to Islamic radicalism. On the contrary, Mateen’s family said that he had earlier on shown a resentment after he caught glimpse of 2 gay partners sharing a passionate kiss. But little did they know that he would react that way.

Virginia Tech Shooting

On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho (a Korean-American student of the Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg), carried out a devastating shooting on the university campus. He started his day by murdering 2 students in the dormitory; it later became a war-like scene when the attacker went into the classroom and sprayed gunfire on students and members of the faculty. After killing 32 people, Cho shot himself dead.

Cho showed strange lifestyles such as stalking female students, and bullying. Having gone through counseling and psychiatric examination, Cho later purchased lethal weapons and committed the horror.

READ MORE: The Complete Story and Motives Behind The Columbine High School Shooting

Sandy Hook Elementary School Mass Shooting

Sandy Hook Elementary Mass Shooting

On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old youngster (Adam Lanza) set out to cause mayhem. Using a gun purchased by his mother, Lanza began his merciless act by killing his mother. He then set out to the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. There, he shot 28 people

After gunning 20 kids (aged 6-7), 6 adults, and school staff, Lanza finally shot himself dead. Investigation officials were left with no clues, since the attacker had killed his mother and destroyed his computer hard disk.

Texas Church Shooting

On a beautiful Sunday morning of November 5, 2017, a former US Air Force member invaded a Texas church and gunned down 26 people. Identified as Devin Kelley, the shooter dressed in black attire and entered into church to assault his victims.

Records showed that Kelley had a deeply troubled past.  He was convicted by military court proceedings when he fractured a relative’s skull and also attacked his wife. After suffering divorce from his first wife, Kelley remarried but ran into quarrels with his mother-in-law. Issuing threats earlier, Kelley burst into the church with the intention of killing his mother-in-law, who was believed to have attended that church. Apart from that, Kelley’s other criminal records also showed that he was cruel to animals. His ex-girlfriends also reported about his multiple harassment towards them.

Lubby’s Massacre

This mass murder took place in 1991 on October 16. The crime scene was at the Texas restaurant Luby. The killer was a 35-year-old George Hennard. On that day, he took his last breakfast at his favorite convenience store, before driving off in his pickup truck to a cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. On reaching his target location, Hennard deliberately crashed his vehicle into the cafeteria.

When nearby crowd gathered around the crashed truck (thinking it was an accident), Hennard stepped out of his car and started his sporadic shootings. Before unleashing the bloodbath, Hennard vented out his anger about how Bell County maltreated him. Since he was a misogynist, his victims were mostly women — he called them vipers.

It’s believed that Hennard got his murderous inspiration from a 1984 murder documentary and the movie “The Fisher King” , which both portrayed restaurant attacks and killings. His attack killed 23 people plus himself.

San Ysidro McDonald’s Shooting

Mass Shootings in America – San Ysidro McDonald’s Shooting

The sixth bloodiest mass shooting in America occurred at San Ysidro, California. On July 18, 1984,  James Huberty attacked the MacDonald’s restaurant and left 21 people dead. A SWAT team later responded and shot Huberty dead.

Before embarking on his attack, Hubert had confessed to his wife that he had a mental problem. A day before the attack, he had sought mental health attention from a San Diego mental health facility. But because the mental health facility failed to attend to him, Huberty goodbyed his family and remarked that society wasted their last chance — he went for human hunting.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting

With a gas mask and some grenades, Nikolas Cruz unleashed rampage at his former high school, Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida. The date of the carnage was on February 14, 2018. The gunman fired into students — killing 17 and wounding others. Back in 2017, Cruz was expelled from the school based on disciplinary actions.

A year later, he returned to wipe out some of his colleagues and then hid himself among the fleeing crowds.  CCTV footage helped police track and arrest him.

El Paso Bloody Massacre

El Paso Mass Shooting

On August 3, 2019, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius stormed an El Paso Walmart in Texas and fatally gunned down 22 people, using an AK-47 styled weapon. He traveled about 9 hours to the target location and carried out the mass murder. Targeting Latinos, the attack is classified as a hate crime and domestic terrorism. Patrick was arrested to help in investigations.

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