San Ysidro McDonald's massacre

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The McDonald's massacre was an incident of mass murder which resulted in 21 deaths at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984.

The massacre was carried out by James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year old former 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.

Before leaving for McDonald's his wife Etna asked him where he was going, Huberty responded, he was "hunting humans".^[1] Earlier that same day he made the comment to his wife, "society had its chance".^[2]

Huberty used a nine-millimeter 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 eight months to 74 years. The massacre began at 4 p.m. and lasted for 77 minutes. Huberty had spent 257 rounds of ammunition before he was fatally shot by Chuck Foster, a SWAT team sniper perched on the roof next door. The murders are reconstructed in The Sett (1996), a book by Ranulph Fiennes, which deals with the subject of revenge killing.

Although Huberty stated during the massacre that he had killed thousands in Vietnam, he had never actually served in any military branch; this led to speculation that schizophrenia led him to believe he had served in the war.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Site 2 Lawsuit 3 Victims 4 References

[edit] Site

On September 26, 1984, McDonald's tore down the restaurant where the massacre occurred and gave the property to the city, which opened Southwestern Community Collegethere. 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, his widow, unsuccessfully sued McDonald's and Babcock and Wilcox, James Huberty's longtime former employer, in an Ohio state court for $7.88 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.

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.

[edit] Victims

• Elsa Herlinda Borboa-Firro
• Neva Denise Caine (manager of the McDonald's)
• Michelle Deanne Carncross
• María Elena Colmenero Silva
• David Flores Delgado (11 Years Old)
• Gloria López González
• Omar Alonso Hernández (11 Years Old) "Josh" identity confirmed by survivor.
• Matao Herrera (11 Years Old)
• Blythe Regan Herrera (Matao Herrera's mother)
• Paulina Aquino López
• Margarita Padilla
• Claudia Pérez (9 years old)
• Rubén Lozano Pérez (Ronald McDonald Mascot)
• Carlos Reyes (8 Months)
• Jackie Wright Reyes (Carlos Reyes's mother)
• Victor Rivera
• Arisdelsi Vuelvas Vargas
• Hugo Luis Velazquez Vargas
• Aida Velazquez Vazquez
• Laurence "Gus" Versiluis
• Miguel Victoria Ulloa
• Alicia Victoria

[edit] References

1. ^ Gresko, Jessica. "Twenty Years later, San Ysidro McDonald's massacre remembered", North County Times, 2004-7-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-27. (in English)
2. ^ ^{a b} "The Chemistry of Violence", Popular Mechanics, March 1998. Retrieved on 2006-12-04. (in English)