Strathfield Massacre
Encyclopedia
The Strathfield massacre was a shooting rampage in Sydney
, Australia
on Saturday, 17 August 1991. The shooter was Wade Frankum, who killed himself as police arrived at the scene. The incident left eight dead and six wounded.
and although there is no direct evidence that the controversial novel had inspired Frankum, a number of suggestions that it had done so were made in newspapers. American Psycho has been condemned as misogynistic because it features many gruesome murders of women, and some thought it significant that five of the seven people Frankum killed were women. He is also said to have possessed a copy of the book The Female Eunuch
by feminist author Germaine Greer
. Frankum also owned a copy of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment
.
Plaza, a shopping mall
. He sat in a café called The Coffee Pot, where he drank a number of cups of coffee.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., apparently without provocation, Frankum pulled a large knife from an army surplus duffel bag
and repeatedly stabbed one of two teenage girls who were sitting behind him, killing the girl.
Leaving the knife in the body of the girl, he pulled a semi-automatic rifle
out of his duffel bag and shot around the café, killing several more people. He then shot the café's owner dead and fled into the main area of the mall, where he killed his last victim.
Frankum ran into the rooftop car park and held a car owner at gunpoint, demanding that she take him to Enfield
, a nearby suburb. Before the woman could start her car, police began to arrive on the scene. Hearing the approaching sirens, Frankum apologized to the woman and then got out of the car, knelt on the ground, and committed suicide
by shooting himself in the head.
Frankum's shooting spree had lasted 10 minutes; he had killed seven people and injured six, none of them personally known to him.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on Saturday, 17 August 1991. The shooter was Wade Frankum, who killed himself as police arrived at the scene. The incident left eight dead and six wounded.
Perpetrator
Wade Frankum was born in 1958 and had worked at various occupations including as a retail assistant. In the apartment where Frankum lived alone, police found a large collection of violent literature and video copies of violent films. One of his books was a well-thumbed copy of American PsychoAmerican Psycho
American Psycho is a psychological thriller and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by the protagonist, serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman. The book's graphic violence and sexual content generated a great deal of...
and although there is no direct evidence that the controversial novel had inspired Frankum, a number of suggestions that it had done so were made in newspapers. American Psycho has been condemned as misogynistic because it features many gruesome murders of women, and some thought it significant that five of the seven people Frankum killed were women. He is also said to have possessed a copy of the book The Female Eunuch
The Female Eunuch
The Female Eunuch is a book first published in 1970 that became an international bestseller and an important text in the feminist movement. The author, Germaine Greer, became well known in broadcast media of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and her home of Australia...
by feminist author Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
. Frankum also owned a copy of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
.
Rampage
At around 1:00 p.m., 33-year-old Frankum went to the StrathfieldStrathfield, New South Wales
Strathfield is an Inner West suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Strathfield is located 14 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield...
Plaza, a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
. He sat in a café called The Coffee Pot, where he drank a number of cups of coffee.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., apparently without provocation, Frankum pulled a large knife from an army surplus duffel bag
Duffel bag
A duffel bag is a large cylindrical bag made of cloth with a drawstring closure at the top....
and repeatedly stabbed one of two teenage girls who were sitting behind him, killing the girl.
Leaving the knife in the body of the girl, he pulled a semi-automatic rifle
Semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...
out of his duffel bag and shot around the café, killing several more people. He then shot the café's owner dead and fled into the main area of the mall, where he killed his last victim.
Frankum ran into the rooftop car park and held a car owner at gunpoint, demanding that she take him to Enfield
Enfield, New South Wales
Enfield is a suburb, in the Inner-West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Enfield is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Burwood Council.-History:...
, a nearby suburb. Before the woman could start her car, police began to arrive on the scene. Hearing the approaching sirens, Frankum apologized to the woman and then got out of the car, knelt on the ground, and committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by shooting himself in the head.
Frankum's shooting spree had lasted 10 minutes; he had killed seven people and injured six, none of them personally known to him.
Victims
- Roberta Armstrong
- Robertson Kan Hock Voon
- Patricia Rowe
- Carole Dickinson
- Joyce Nixon
- Rachell Milburn
- George Mavris
See also
- List of massacres in Australia
- List of disasters in Australia by death toll
- Mass and Serial Murders in Australia
- A Masked Gunman Kills 6 at a Mall in Australia, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(18 August 1991)