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On a summer afternoon in the small San Diego suburb of San Ysidro, near the Mexican border, James Oliver Huberty walked into a McDonald's restuarant with several firearms and a bag of ammunition. He ordered everyone in the restuarant to lie down, but when an employee tried to phone the police, Huberty began indiscriminantly shooting customers, employees, and passers-by. His victims ranged from the very young, a six-moth old baby, to the elderly, as he shot those lying on the floor and those who tried to flee. Some of those killed or wounded were children playing on the playground inside the restaurant. Even kids who tried to escape on bikes were gunned down. The police surrounded the McDonald's, at first helpless to stop the bloodshed that was unfolding before their eyes. Once a S.W.A.T. team arrived, a sniper was given the "green light" to shoot the suspect. Huberty was killed with one shot to the head fired from the rooftop of a building across the street. But the damage was done. Huberty, in his final act of senseless violence, had killed 21 men, women, and children. He had had a history of trouble with a violent temper, he had been fired from a job in Ohio due to his bouts of rage, and he moved his family to California and found work as a security guard. The very day of the massacre, Huberty tried to contact a mental health clinic for help with his uncontrolled anger. However when the clinic did not return Huberty's call, a violent encounter between Huberty and his wife ensued, which ended with him running from his house across the street to the McDonald's After the incident, the city razed the McDonald's building, vowing never to build another restuarant on the site. Instead, the land is now home to a local college, Southwestern College Educational Center. A memorial in honor of the victims of the McDonald's massacre stands on the campus, consisting of 21 granite pillars of varying height, one for each victim who died. |
| The 80's History Project Crimes San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre July 18, 1984 |
| An injured boy is escorted from the scene of the carnage at the San Ysidro McDonalds. |
| McDonald's workers who escaped Huberty's murderous rampage are overwhelmed by the horror of the event. |
| The memorial in honor of the victims of the McDonald's massacre, on the site of the original restuarant. |
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