Rampage Killers: Offenders on a spree...

Rampage Killers:

Rampage Killer is a generic term referring to either a Spree Killer or a Mass Murderer. A spree killer is someone who kills two or more victims in a short time, in multiple locations. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the general definition of "spree killer" is a person (or more than one person) who commits two or more murders without a cooling-off period; the lack of a cooling-off period marks the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. Serial killers commit clearly separate murders, happening at different times. Mass murderers are defined by one incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders.   According to Safarik and Ramsland, a spree killing involves at least three murders in at least two locations, arising from a precipitating incident that fuels the need to kill, and the murders occur fairly close in time. Spree killers differ from other multiple murderers: while serial killers would typically go to great lenghts to keep doing their crimes and avoid getting caught, and most mass murderers would know they're gonna die at the end of their rampage, spree killers move pretty rapidly from one experience to another, and, after a while, they almost consider themselves on a roll. Of the three categories, they think the least about their future - that is, either having one or not.

Typology:

Safarik and Ramsland classified spree killers as follows:

●       Anger and Revenge - They have a grudge or seek revenge, and are furtherly sub-classified as:

• Targeted: They know exactly who they want to kill, and are more easily identified and potentially stopped.
• Random-Opportunistic: They have a more generalized need to act out or punish, and their victims are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Targeted and Random-Opportunistic: They target one or more people but then extend their spree randomly or in an opportunistic circumstance.

●       On a Mission - They have a sense of purpose for their rampage, sometimes clearly articulated but sometimes disjointed and delusional. They are furtherly sub-classified as:

• Psychotic: They are affected by psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder, some forms of borderline personality disorder, some types of substance abuse, and exposure to environmental toxins. Most psychotic mission spree killers were affected by paranoid schizophrenia.
• Nonpsychotic: They usually commit hate crimes or acts of terror, and see them as a noble cause. This is often in the service of a religious belief or political ideology. Delusional elements are present, usually in the form of non-bizarre false beliefs, but not to the degree of psychotic killers.

●       Deadly Desperation - They are fuelled by a sense of "nothing to lose", and their rush is often irrational and suicidal. Generally, police knows their identity and what drives them is the sense that they must keep moving until they are stopped, or they end it. They often target random victims with modes of transportation they can steal, and move from one vehicle to another in order to stay ahead of their pursuers. Needing resources, they might invade homes or commit armed robberies.

●       Mental Illness - They suffer from mental illnesses, much like mission spree killers, but differ from them in the sense that they have not clear missions. Most of these sprees are reactive rather than carefully planned.

●       Robbery and Thrill - Thrill-seeking and robbery are both present more times than not in this category. The killings are senseless, and violence is excessive beyond what is necessary even in terms of witness elimination. This and the use of multiple weapons speak to the fact that thrill is usually comorbid with robbery. Sometimes desperation is seen in these spree killers, who often act in couple or teams.

Mass Murderer: According to Safarik and Ramsland, a Mass Murderer is a person who kills at least four victims in a short-lived incident in one basic locale, even if the killer travels to several loosely related spots in that general area (e.g. inside a building).

Typology:

Classic - They are mostly asocial loners who are affected by either psychotic disorders (e.g. paranoid schizophrenia) or personality disorders (e.g. paranoid personality disorder), are personal-cause, statement-oriented offenders, and often feel hatred and resentment towards an either existent, symbolic or perceived collective, community or authority (sometimes even society itself). Some of them are not psychotics but rather "functional paranoiacs" with assassin personalities: instead of addressing their wrath to a single person (such as a president or celebrity), they kill a significant amount of people in a specific place (which is often meaningful or connected to the offender), in order to go out "in a blaze of glory". This category includes workplace shooters and school shooters.

●       Family annihilators

• Depressed - They are dealing with harsh situations (e.g. financial difficulties, illnesses) and come to see murder as the only way to save their families from "the vale of tears" their lives have turned into.
• Pathological Liar - They kill their relatives in order to hide their lies and to "protect" them from the suffering caused by the latters.
• Psychotic - They kill their relatives because of psychotic disorders.
• Libertarian - They kill their relatives in order to get rid of their "oppression".
• Drug Addict - They kill their relatives, usually while going through withdrawal, if they're denied the money required for their fix.
• Heir - They kill their relatives for their inheritance.
• Jealous - They consider their families as their properties, and kill them for jealousy related to an either real or perceived fact.
• Vengeful/Stalker - They do not accept the end of a relationship, are sensitive to rejection, and can get to the point of committing a familicide.
• Litigious - They commit familicide during the course of a domestic dispute.

●       Alternative family annihilators' typology:

• Self-Righteous - They hold their wives responsible for the breakdown of the family unit, and are often overly dramatic, choosing to carry out their murders on dates that are important to their families. Unsure in their roles as providers, they are threatened by their wives' careers or financial windfalls.
• Disappointed - They believe they have done right by their families, but the family has not done right by them, for example, by opposing to their religious beliefs.
• Anomic - They see their families as an extension of their own success, so if success eludes the family (e.g. in the form of bankruptcy or a public scandal) they are no longer serving their function.
• Paranoid - They perceive a threat to their families (e.g. children will be removed by the legal system, and they will not have access to them anymore), whom they kill as a means of "protecting" them.

●       Mission-oriented - They are either terrorists or members of a cult who kill a significant amount of people to bring to the fore their arguments. They are often affected by the same types of pathologies of Classic mass murderers, but they come up with a religious, racial, political... cause as an excuse.  

●       Indiscriminate/Situational - They commit mass murders in conjunction with other offenses (e.g. a robbery or home invasion). Sometimes the murders are planned along with the offense, sometimes they are the result of a degenerating situation which prompts the offender to kill.  

●       Devolving - They are serial/spree killers who devolve to mass murder. 

●       Atypical - They defy classification, often being a mixture of these typologies.

Some of the rampage killers known all over the world are named below:

1. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel: The most prolific spree killer in modern history was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian-born Frenchman who deliberately drove a large cargo truck and fired a gun simultaneously into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 14, 2016. 86 people, including several foreigners, were killed and 434 others were injured, 52 critically. The rampage covered a distance of 1.2 miles before ending at a hotel beside the walkway. There, responding police officers cornered Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's truck and opened fire on it, shooting and killing him. Unconfirmed reports claimed that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel shouted "Allahu Akbar!" (a phrase popularly used by Islamic terrorists) during the rampage. Despite being described as not being particularly religious, an eyewitness placed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a newly-hired truck driver and Muslim who had a small criminal record, as a frequent attendant of a mosque in recent months. An investigation of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's phone records found that he was in contact with known Islamic extremists. On July 21, the French prosecutor confirmed that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel planned the attack for months with nine accomplices, who have all been arrested and charged.

2. Adam Peter Lanza: He was an American spree killer, mass murderer, and school shooter who perpetrated the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which left 28 people dead (including Lanza himself) and two injured.

3. Gordon Frederick Cummins : Gordon Frederick Cummins, a.k.a. "The Blackout Ripper" or "The Blackout Killer", was a British spree killer and robber active during World War II's German Blitz.

 

4. Howard Barton Unruh: Howard Barton Unruh was a schizophrenic spree killer and family annihilator who killed thirteen people during a shooting rampage on September 6, 1949. His rampage has since been named The Walk of Death.

5. Marc Vincent Sappington: He is an American spree killer and cannibal convicted of murdering four acquaintances in March and April 2001 in Kansas City, Kansas. He gained notoriety for eating part of the leg of one of his victims, Alton "Fred" Brown.

There are end number of movies and series about rampage killers that will give you more insight about them, some of which are mentioned below:

1. Rampage: The boredom of small town life is eating Bill Williamson alive. Feeling constrained and claustrophobic in the meaningless drudgery of everyday life and helpless against overwhelming global dissolution, Bill begins a descent into madness. His shockingly violent plan will shake the very foundations of society by painting the streets red with blood. Watch it on Netflix.

2. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: Henry (Michael Rooker) is released from prison following his mother's murder. He supplements his job as an exterminator with a series of indiscriminate and violent murders. Fellow jailbird and drug dealer Otis (Tom Towles) becomes a willing accomplice in Henry's bloody killings. But as the depravity escalates and Henry forms a bond with Otis' sister, Becky (Tracy Arnold), things start to get out of hand. The film is based on the true-life story of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. Watch it on Amazon prime.

 

3. Borderland: Three college students, Phil, Ed, and Henry take a road trip into Mexico for a week of drinking and carefree fun only to have Phil find himself a captive of a group of satanic Mexican drug smugglers who kill tourists and whom are looking for a group of new ones to prepare for a sacrifice. Watch it on Amazon prime.

4. Spree: Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver thirsty for followers, has figured out a deadly plan to go viral. As his disturbing livestream is absurdly embraced by the social media hellscape, a comedienne emerges as the only hope to stop this rampage.

*All the images are taken from India Tv and Wikipedia, we provide full credit to the sources and no credit is taken by this page.

-An article by Varsha Sangwan

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