1982 — Aug 20, Rampage shooting (8), mentally disturbed man (killed), Miami, FL — 9

— 9  Duwe, Grant.  Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 109.[1]

— 9  St. Petersburg Independent, FL. “Miami killer was a ‘hater’.” 8-21-1982, p. 2A.[2]

— 9  Wikipedia. “Carl Robert Brown.” 12-16-2012 modification.[3]

— 8  NYT. “Police Say Killer of 8 Had Just Purchased Gun.” 8-22-1982, Sec. 1, p. 22, col. 6.

 

Narrative Information

 

Duwe:  “….A schoolteacher for 20 years, Brown was ordered to receive psychiatric treatment after he had been placed on medical leave in December of 1981….On December 3, 1981, a classroom incident occurred that led to Brown’s dismissal.  Brown got into an argument with two boys after he accused them of throwing books.  During the argument, Brown described his sexual behavior with a girlfriend, and then threatened to use a stapler on the penis of one of the boys.  In a memo filed after the incident, Principle Octavio Visideo reported that he ‘found Mr. Brown to be incoherent and unable to grasp the severity of the situation at hand’ (UPI Wire, August 24, 1982; AM Cycle).  He sought counseling for Brown, who began seeing a psychiatrist in January.  Brown was later placed on medical leave in March.

 

“Just as Brown’s professional life started a downward spiral, so, too, did his personal life.  His second wife…divorced him because of his earlier refusal to get help for his mental health problems.  She said that he had once threatened ‘to plant bombs all over Miami and to get up on the roof and shoot everybody that comes by.’  Despite the apparent severity of Brown’s mental illness, the psychiatrist whom he had been seeing, Dr. Robert A. Wainger, thought that Brown did not pose a ‘danger to anyone.’  Dr. Wainger saw Brown two days before the shootings and noted, ‘He did not indicate…that he had any interest in harming anyone or himself’ (UPI Wire, August 24, 1982; AM Cycle)….

 

The morning after the “threatening remarks” at Moore’s shop, Brown “bought two shotguns, an automatic rifle, and ammunition from a Dade County gun shop.  Brown returned home, tossed one of the new guns to his son, and asked him to join him.  Frightened, the boy called his mother, who tried to call police but gave up after she was repeatedly transferred….

 

“Politicians responded to the shooting spree that was called ‘Miami’s biggest mass murder’ by introducing legislation requiring a 72-hour cooling off period before the purchase of rifles and handguns in the state of Florida.  Brown’s ex-wife claimed that such a waiting period might have prevented the mass shooting.  She also blamed the gun shop that sold him the guns, saying, ‘He had been there many times.  They must have known he was strange.  It is amazing they let him buy those guns’ (UPI Wire, July 2, 1983; AM Cycle.”  (Duwe, Grant.  Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, pp. 109-111.)

 

St. Petersburg Independent:  “Miami – A slightly built Date County schoolteacher, irate about a repair bill, killed eight men and women and wounded three Friday as he stalked through a northwest section welding shop blasting employees with a shotgun. ‘I want to shoot everybody,’ said Carl R. Brown, 51, as he walked into the welding shop office.  Then he loaded his 12-gauge pump shotgun and began shooting the staff of Bob Moore’s Welding & Machine Service Inc.

 

“He left six dead, two dying and three wounded, then calmly pedaled away on an old bicycle.

 

“Seven blocks away the gunman was killed after an outraged motorist shot the gunman in the back and rammed his bicycle into a concrete pole.  Associate Medical Examiner Sigmund Menchel said his autopsy confirmed that Brown died of the bullet wound….

 

“The rampage is the deadliest mass murder in the number of victims in Dade County history.

“Most of the victims were strangers to Brown, who, until February, taught American history at Drew Middle School.  He had been relieved of his teaching duties and was on medical leave.  ‘I’m not surprised,’ said Hialeah Junior High teacher Arleane Rothenberg, who knew Brown for nearly 20 years.  ‘He hated everybody.  He was a bigot.  He should not have been in a classroom.  His problems were something that should have been caught a long time ago.

 

“Brown was a dissatisfied customer who complained on Thursday about the bill on a repair job to a lawn mower engine.  He cursed and made threats.  Employers at the welding shop did not take the threats seriously.

 

“Wearing a floppy straw hat and riding his bicycle Brown returned there shortly before 11 a.m. Friday.  He killed owner Bob Moore’s mother, Ernestine Moore, 67; his uncle, Magnum Moore, 78, who was the bookkeeper; Carl Lee, 47, the manager; Martha Steelman, 29, a secretary; Lonie Jeffries, 53, a crane operator; Juan Trespalacios, 38, a machinist; Pedro Vasques, 44, the shop foreman; and Nelson Barrios, 46, a welder….

 

“Passing motorist Mac Edwards heard a shotgun blast just before he saw the three wounded employees fleeing in panic.  They jumped into his car as he slowed for a traffic light.  ‘Get out of here! Get out of here!’ they screamed.  ‘A guy with  shotgun is going crazy out there.  Get us out of here, quick!’  Two of the bleeding men in his car were screaming in pain, the third was sobbing.  Edwards drove them to the safety of a Shell station a mile away and dialed 911….

 

“A frantic General Metals employee ran to All Florida Metals, a block away.  ‘He was in hysterics,’ said owner Mike Kram…Kram dashed toward the welding shop. He met General Metals employee Ernie Hammett, who was frantically trying to flag down cars.  Hammett told him that six to eight people were dead at Moore’s.  They ran back to Kram’s 1981 Lincoln Continental and took off in pursuit of the gunman.  As they came close to the bicyclist, Kram fired a warning shot to stop him.  It did not.  ‘We were about 15 feet from him,’ said Hammett, ‘and Mark said, ‘I’m going to hit him!’ Kram’s car was up close to the bicyclist’s rear tire, he said, when ‘he saw me and reached for his shotgun.’ ‘Out of reaction – I just ran directly at him.’  It was, Kram said, ‘a cold, cold thing to do. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life.’ The bicycle was hurled against the pole….Police said no charges would be filed against Kram….”  (St. Petersburg Independent, FL. “Miami killer was a ‘hater’.” 8-21-1982, p. 2A.)

 

NYT Abstract:  “Carl R. Brown, the 51-year-old suspended teacher who killed eight persons here Friday, bought the weapon he used hours earlier, the police said today. They said Mr. Brown went to a gun shop a block from his house and bought a Mossberg 500, a shotgun with a 20-inch barrel capable of firing eight shots by pump action.”  (New York Times.  “Police Say Killer of 8 Had Just Purchased Gun.” 8-22-1982, Sec. 1, p. 22, c.6.)

 

Sources

 

Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007.

 

New York Times. “Police Say Killer of 8 Had Just Purchased Gun.” 8-22-1982, Sec. 1, p. 22, c.6. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/22/us/around-the-nation-police-say-killer-of-8-had-just-purchased-gun.html

 

St. Petersburg Independent, FL. “Miami killer was a ‘hater’.” 8-21-1982, p. 2A. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uuYLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C1kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4879,1435085&dq=carl+robert+brown

 

Wikipedia. “Carl Robert Brown.” 12-16-2012 mod. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Robert_Brown

 

 

 

 

[1] Eight killed by shooter before shooter was shot and hit by vehicle while riding his getaway bicycle.

[2] Eight killed by shooter plus shooter death.

[3] Eight killed by shooter plus shooter death.