A couple observe a makeshift memorial honoring the victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting, June 20, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. (AP)

VOA Special Report

Restaurant, bar and nightclub shootings

Mass shootings (1966 - February 2020)

On Oct. 24, 2003, the Stateline Bar in Oldtown, Idaho, became the scene of the earliest-known mass shooting at a restaurant, bar and nightclub in the modern era.

Four people, including the perpetrator’s ex-girlfriend, were killed at the tiny tavern located in the Idaho-Washington border town with a population of about 200 people.

Mass shootings are defined by the Congressional Research Service as four or more victims.

The following year, a gunman killed four people and held one hostage at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, where 250 people attended a heavy metal concert. Four were killed in that massacre, including Dimebag Darrell, founder and guitarist of the band Damageplan, as they played the first song of the set. He was the gunman’s target.

In 2010, three mass shootings occurred within a five-month span from April to August:

  • Four people were killed and two others wounded at a memorial gathering inside a restaurant in Los Angeles
  • A gunman killed his estranged wife and three other women outside the restaurant where she worked in Hialeah, Florida
  • Four people were killed at the scene, and four others injured when a former gang member opened fire inside a restaurant in Buffalo, New York, after a dispute over spilled Champagne. One of the injured victims died in 2017 from his head wound, becoming the fifth fatality.

Multiple mass shootings also occurred in 2016 and in 2018. But the deadliest took place June 12, 2016, at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 were injured, most of them Hispanic and members of the LGBTQ community. Thirty-eight victims died at the scene.

The 29-year-old perpetrator at the gay nightclub was the American-born Muslim son of Afghan immigrants who had been a frequent customer. In his call to 9-1-1, he claimed the attack was in retaliation for the U.S. airstrike that year against Islamic State that killed its leader, Abu Waheeb.

The attack at Pulse was classified as an act of terrorism. In its aftermath, law enforcement agencies across the United States reexamined their training, policies and practices regarding public mass violence.

Restaurant, bars and nightclub mass shooting locations Fatalities and restaurant, bars and nightclub mass shootings

Circles scaled according to the number of fatalities.

Jillian Peterson, Ph.D., and James Densley, Ph.D., built a new database of mass shooters that they hope will inform future research and policy decisions about how to effectively prevent and respond to mass shootings.

For their study, they used the Congressional Research Service’s definition of a mass shooting:

“a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms — not including the offender(s) — within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle).”

About the data

All shooters have either been charged, convicted or killed at the scene.

The team collected more than 100 pieces of information on each of 172 mass shooters, resulting in The Violence Project Database of Mass Shootings in the United States, 1966 - February 2020.

They compiled details on hundreds of factors, including age, race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, education, relationship status, number of children, employment type and status, military service and branch, criminal, violence and abuse history, gang and terrorist affiliation, bullying, home environment and trauma.

What emerged were fleshed-out profiles and motivations of individual shooters, whose crimes can potentially influence current, and future policy and prevention.

Restaurant, bar and nightclub shootings (1966 - February 2020)

While there is no single profile of a mass shooter, there are several similar characteristics of perpetrators who commit crimes at restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

One-third showed evidence of a thought disorder.

The Violence Project describes this specific shooter as a white male in his 30s with a criminal record, violent history, and no employment connection to the location. He used a legally owned handgun to commit the crime. Sixty-five percent of the perpetrators had prior criminal records; 74% had a history of violence.

Twenty-six percent had an obsessive interest in firearms; 17% were school bullies. Seventeen percent were notable misogynists; 22% were involved in domestic disputes that spilled over in the public. Twenty-two percent had a relationship issue; and 22% experienced interpersonal conflict.

Thirty-nine percent of the shooters purchased their guns legally, including one that was part of an unregulated private sale. In addition, one gun was gifted to the shooter.

Restaurant, bar and nightclub shooting victims

March 16, 1968 Vienna Gustafson (41 years old) • Raymond Hautala (49) • Sally Johnson (61) • Rudolph Maurin (56) • Helvi Puisto (Mrs. Axel Puisto) (47) • Katherine Rigoni (59) • Daniel Weiss (67) July 23, 1977 Gary Lee Anderson (27 years old) • Michael Mortenson (23) • Robert David Seater (26) • Carrol Ann Seater (23) • James L Trueman (25) • Andrew Lane Walker (22) Feb. 3, 1980 Randy Wayne Steele (20 years old) • Kathleen Lynn Austin (32) • Marianne Laweka (53) • Jana L. Carpenter (29) • Fredrick Bergford (28) May 7, 1981 John William Cooper (27 years old) • Lori J. Cunningham (22) • Robert E. Hamblin (24) • Allen L. Wilcox (24) June 29, 1984 Marcell Mae Ford (34 years old) • Ligia Kozlowski (45) • Linda Lowe (43) • Joseph John Minasi (36) • Frank Parker (49) • Janice Smith (46) July 18, 1984 Elsa Herlinda Borboa-Firro (19 years old) • Neva Denise Caine (22) • Michelle Deanne Carncross (18) • María Elena Colmenero-Silva (19) • David Flores Delgado (11) • Gloria López González (22) • Omarr Alonso Hernandez (11) • Blythe Regan Herrera (31) • Matao Herrera (11) • Paulina Aquino López (21) • Margarita Padilla (18) • Claudia Pérez Fuentes (9) • Jose Rubén Lozano-Pérez (19) • Carlos Reyes Jr. (1) • Jackie Lynn Wright Reyes (18) • Victor Maxmillian Rivera (25) • Miguel Victoria-Ulloa (74) • Arisdelsi Vuelvas-Vargas (31) • Hugo Luis Velázquez Vazquez (45) • Alicia Aida Velázquez Victoria (70) • Laurence Herman Versluis (62) July 24, 1984 Juanita Allen (45 years old) • Tom Altringer (34) • Helen C. Frazee (58) • James F. Stephens Oct. 16, 1991 Patricia B. Carney (57 years old) • Jimmie Eugene Caruthers (48) • Kriemhild “Kitty” Davis (62) • Steven Charles Dody (43) • Alphonse “Al” Gratia (71) • Ursula Edith “Suzy” Gratia (67) • Debra Gray (33) • Michael Griffith (48) • Venice Ellen Henehan (70) • Clodine Delphia Humphrey (63) • Sylvia Mathilde King (30) • Zona Mae Hunnicutt Lynn (45) • Connie Deen Peterson (41) • Ruth Marie Pujol (55) • Su-Zann Neal Rashott (36) • John Raymond Romero Jr. (33) • Thomas Earl Simmons (33) • Glen Arval Spivey (55) • Nancy Faye Hedgepeth Stansbury (44) • Olgica Andonovska Taylor (45) • James Walter Welsh (75) • Lula Belle Welsh (75) • Iva Juanita Williams (64) Aug. 6, 1993 Wesley Scott Cover (26 years old) • James F. Kidd (46) • Ethel Contos Parrous (65) • Peter Nicholas Parrous (73) Oct. 24, 2003 Chester W. Cavaliere (62 years old) • Henry “Hank” Franklin Shumake (63) • LeRoy G. Wiese (84) • Tiki Danielle Wiese (41) Dec. 8, 2004 Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott (38 years old) • Erin Alexander Halk (29) • Nathan Anthony Bray (23) • Jeffery “Mayhem” Thompson (40) Nov. 29, 2009 Tina Griswold (40 years old) • Ronald Owens (37) • Mark Renninger (39) • Greg Richards (42) April 3, 2010 Harut Baburyan (28 years old) • Sarkis Karadijan (26) • Vardan Tofalyan (31) • Hayk Yegnanyan (25) June 6, 2010 Zaida Castillo (56 years old) • Maysel Figueroa (32) • Lavinia Fonseca (47) • Liazan Molina (24) Aug. 14, 2010 Shawn-Tia McNeil (27 years old) • Willie McCaa III (26) • Danyell Mackin Jr. (30) • Tiffany Wilhite (32) Sept. 6, 2011 Florence Donovan-Gunderson (67 years old) • Heath Austin Kelly (35) • Miranda Summerwind McElhiney (31) • Christian Riege (38) May 30, 2012 Joe “Vito” Albanese (52 years old) • Andrew Thomas “Drew” Keriakedes (45) • Donald Largen (57) • Kimberly Layfield (38) • Gloria Leonidas (52) Feb. 20, 2016 Dorothy Judy Brown (74 years old) • Barbara Hawthorne (68) • Mary Jo Nye (60) • Mary Lou Nye (62) • Richard Smith (53) • Tyler Smith (17) June 12, 2016 Stanley Almodovar III (23 years old) • Amanda Alvear (25) • Oscar A. Aracena-Montero (26) • Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala (33) • Alejandro Barrios Martinez (21) • Martin Benitez Torres (33) • Antonio Davon Brown (29) • Darryl Roman Burt II (29) • Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega (24) • Angel L. Candelario-Padro (28) • Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez (31) • Juan Chevez-Martinez (25) • Luis Daniel Conde (39) • Cory James Connell (21) • Tevin Eugene Crosby (25) • Frank Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez (50) • Deonka Deidra Drayton (32) • Mercedez Marisol Flores (26) • Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz (22) • Juan Ramon Guerrero (22) • Paul Terrell Henry (41) • Frank Hernandez (27) • Miguel Angel Honorato (30) • Javier Jorge-Reyes (40) • Jason Benjamin Josaphat (19) • Eddie Jamoldroy Justice (30) • Anthony Luis Laureanodisla (25) • Christopher Andrew Leinonen (32) • Brenda Lee Marquez McCool (49) • Jean Carlos Mendez Perez (35) • Akyra Monet Murray (18) • Kimberly “KJ” Morris (37) • Jean Carlos Nieves Rodriguez (27) • Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo (23) • Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez (25) • Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera (36) • Joel Rayon Paniagua (32) • Enrique L. Rios Jr. (25) • Juan P. Rivera Velazquez (37) • Yilmary Rodrigues Solivan (24) • Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz (24) • Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado (35) • Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez (25) • Edward Sotomayor Jr. (34) • Shane Evan Tomlinson (33) • Leroy Valentin Fernandez (25) • Luis S. Vielma (22) • Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon (37) • Jerald Arthur Wright (31) Feb. 6, 2017 Jerrandan Allen (22 years old) • Edward Johnson (36) • Kevin Johnson (30) • Gabriel Townsend (35) April 22, 2018 Akilah DaSilva (23 years old) • DeEbony Groves (21) • Joe R. Perez (20) • Taurean C. Sanderlin (29) Nov. 7, 2018 Sean Adler (48 years old) • Cody Gifford-Coffman (22) • Blake Dingman (21) • Jacob Dunham (21) • Ron Helus (54) • Alaina Housley (18) • Daniel Manrique (33) • Justin Meek (23) • Mark Meza Jr. (20) • Kristina Morisette (20) • Telemachus Orfanos (27) • Noel Sparks (21) Aug. 4, 2019 Jordan Cofer [Betts] (22 years old) • Monica E. Brickhouse (39) • Nicholas P. Cumer (25) • Derrick R. Fudge (57) • Thomas J. McNichols (25) • Lois L. Oglesby (27) • Saeed Salah (38) • Logan M. Turner (30) • Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis (36)

* Includes victims who died as a result of the shooting, in some cases decades later due to injuries suffered at the scene.