On 20 May 1992, 64-year-old Brian Schlaepfer murdered six members of his family on their Paerata farm, near Pukekohe, Auckland Region, New Zealand before he shot himself.[1][2][3][4] The massacre was one of the most high-profile shootings in New Zealand's history.[5][6]
| Pukekohe massacre | |
|---|---|
.svg)  Paerata Paerata (New Zealand) | |
| Location | Paerata, Auckland Region, New Zealand |
| Date | 20 May 1992 |
Attack type | Mass shooting, stabbing |
| Weapons | Shotgun, .22-calibre rifle, knife |
| Deaths | 7 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 0 |
| Perpetrator | Brian Schlaepfer |
Murders
editSchlaepfer, who suffered from mild depression, quarreled with his wife in their bedroom before stabbing her to death with a knife. One of his sons went to investigate the noise of the fight and was shot. Schlaepfer then went to the barn where he shot his other son. The wife of one of his sons went from another house to search for the origin of the gunshots and was wounded by shots on the way to the house where the murders had taken place. She ran to her house and called the police on the emergency telephone number (111).
Schlaepfer next shot and stabbed his grandson in his bed, then shot his son's wife in the kitchen while she was talking to the police. Schlaepfer then returned to the barn where he shot his son and waited for his other son to return from work. Schlaepfer shot and stabbed him when he arrived, then went to the bushes near the house and shot himself. Schlaepfer's granddaughter, who had hidden from him in a wardrobe, survived the shooting of her mother and continued speaking to police on the emergency line for three hours, describing what was happening at the scene until it was secured by police. Schlaepfer used a shotgun and a .22-calibre rifle during the shooting.[7][8][9][10][11]
Gun control context
editAt the time of the event, gun owners were still regulated under the Arms Act 1983, which granted lifetime licences.[12] New Zealand legislation to amend the act in order to review licences every 10 years (a consequence of the 1990 Aramoana massacre) had not yet been enacted. Thomas Thorp considered the Schlaepfer murders in his comprehensive 1995 Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand for the New Zealand Government.[1] Thorp found that Schlaepfer had been issued with a class A firearms licence in 1984 and had no known history of mental illness or domestic violence according to police records.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Thorp, Thomas (June 1997). Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand (PDF). Wellington: GP Print. pp. 66–69, 250–251. ISBN 0-477-01796-7 – via police.govt.nz.
- ^ "Schlaepfer farm murders, 1992 | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Christchurch mosque shootings are one of the world's worst massacres". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ Auto, Hermes (16 March 2019). "Mass shooting incidents in New Zealand | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "High profile shootings in New Zealand". Stuff. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Crime and Punishment: Will freeing more prisoners work?". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ Alpers, Philip (June 1997). "The People Most Likely to Kill with a Gun & Eleven Years of Mass Gun Killings in Australia and New Zealand, 1987-97". gunpolicy.org. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ "Day of slaughter on family farm". NZ Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "The Schlaepfer Family Massacre". www.crime.co.nz. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "9-Year-Old Girl Praised After Massacre". AP NEWS. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "FARMER KILLS 6 MEMBERS OF FAMILY, HIMSELF". Deseret News. 20 May 1992. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Swinton, Nathan (September 2019). A Turning Point for Firearms Regulation: Implications of Legislative and Operational Reforms in the Wake of the Christchurch Shootings (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: Fulbright New Zealand. p. 7. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
Further reading
edit- Sell, Bronwyn (2009). Law Breakers and Mischief Makers: 50 Notorious New Zealanders. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin. p. 117. ISBN 9781741768961.
External links
edit- "Case 3: Schlaepfer Family Murders". True Crime New Zealand. NZ. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2022. - Podcast
- "20 May 1992 - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections MJ_6097". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Auckland Council Libraries. Retrieved 19 February 2022. - Auckland Libraries references to newspaper cuttings and books.