Violence Policy Center

VPC

IndexOnline NewsPress ReleasesFact SheetsPublicationsLinksHomeAbout VPC
Looking for something?

Where'd They Get Their Guns?

An Analysis of the Firearms Used in High-Profile Shootings, 1963 to 2001

Date: April 28, 2000

Location: Suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Alleged Shooter: Richard Baumhammers

People Killed: Five

People Injured: One

Firearm(s): Smith & Wesson .357 revolver


Circumstances

Baumhammers, an immigration lawyer, allegedly went on a shooting spree in the Pittsburgh suburbs, killing five people�a Jewish woman, a black man, and natives of China, Vietnam, and India�and also wounding one who was from India. The shootings took place over a span of less than two hours in an area of 15 miles before Baumhammers was arrested. Baumhammers was charged with five counts of homicide and ethnic intimidation, which is Pennsylvania's term for a hate crime.


How Firearm(s) Acquired

The revolver was purchased legally from Ace Sporting Goods in Washington, Pennsylvania. Baumhammers had a history of mental illness, but had never been involuntarily committed.

 
  1. Jeffrey Bair, "Judge to Limit Testimony About Insanity, May Bring in Jury for Suspect in Spree," Associated Press, 20 February 2001.
  2. "Accused Killer of 5 Said to be Mentally Ill," Chicago Tribune, 1 May 2000, p. 6.
  3. Jeffrey Bair, "Spree Suspect Called for Keeping �Foothold on This Nation,'" Associated Press, 2 May 2000.
  4. "5 Dead in Shooting Spree; White Lawyer Apparently Targeted Minorities on Long Trail of Death," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 29 April 2000, sec. A, p. 1.

 

Back to Table of Contents

 

 

 

 All contents � 2001 Violence Policy Center

 


The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.