McDonalds Massacre, San Ysidro, CA
N 32° 33.358 W 117° 03.252
11S E 494911 N 3602064
The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was an incident of mass murder which resulted in 21 deaths and 19 injuries at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego,
Waymark Code: WM4MF2
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/06/2008
Views: 20
The massacre was carried out by James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year-old former Union Metal Inc. welder from Canton, Ohio. In January 1984, Huberty had moved to San Diego 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.
On the day before the massacre, Huberty had called a mental health center. The receptionist misspelled his name on intake as "Shouberty". Since he had not claimed there was an immediate emergency, his call was not returned. Huberty had eaten at a McDonald's in the Clairemont neighborhood in northern San Diego a few hours prior to the massacre.
Before Huberty left for McDonald's, his wife Etna asked him where he was going. Huberty responded that he was "hunting humans".[1] Earlier that day he had commented to his wife, "Society had its chance."[2] A witness, who spotted Huberty leave his apartment and proceed down San Ysidro Boulevard with two firearms, phoned police, but the dispatcher gave them the wrong address.
The mass murder
Huberty used a 9mm 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 8 months to 74 years. The massacre began at 3:40 p.m. and lasted for 77 minutes. Huberty had spent 257 rounds of ammunition before he was fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper, Chuck Foster, perched on the roof of the Yum Yum Donuts adjacent to the restaurant. Initially, law enforcement and emergency crews responded to the McDonald's located at the U.S. International Border with Tijuana at 3:15 PM and 15 minutes later changed directions after they learned that the shooting was actually taking place at the McDonald's next to the post office approximately 2 miles away.
On September 26, 1984, McDonald's tore down the restaurant where the massacre occurred and gave the property to the city. They in turn established the Education Center as part of Southwestern Community College. This location was built in 1988 as an expansion of its off-campus locations. 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. Every anniversary, the monument is decorated with flowers and on the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead candles and offerings are brought on behalf of the victims.
Sept 2008, the site was being reconstructed to a newer education center for the Southwest College Education Center. The memorial is still accessable from the sidewalk. There is no memorial plaque. I think the locals would rather not be reminded about it.
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