Editing Howard Unruh (section)

{{Short description|American mass murderer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox murderer
| name              = Howard Unruh
| image             = Howard Unruh.jpg
| image_size        = 259px
| caption           = 
| birthname         = Howard Barton Unruh
| occupation        = Sheet-metal worker, former [[United States Army]] armor crewman
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1921|1|21|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Camden, New Jersey|East Camden, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2009|10|19|1921|1|21|mf=y}}
| death_place       = [[Trenton Psychiatric Hospital]], Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
| cause             = 
| motive            = Inconclusive 
 (possibly [[post-traumatic stress disorder|post]]-[[psychological trauma|traumatic]] and/or a personal [[feud]] with one of the victims)
| conviction        = N/A; found [[Acquittal|not guilty]] of all charges by [[Insanity defense|reason of insanity]]
| penalty           = [[Involuntary commitment]]
| date              = {{start date|1949|09|06}}
| locations         = Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
| fatalities        = 13
| injuries          = 3 (2 from gunfire)
| weapons           = [[Luger pistol|Luger P08]]<ref name=nyt19490907>
{{cite news |date=September 7, 1949 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Veteran Kills 12 in Mad Rampage on Camden Street |first=Meyer |last=Berger |author-link=Meyer Berger |access-date=June 23, 2018 |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/article/mass-shooting-tight-deadline |quote=Howard B. Unruh, 28 years old, a mild, soft-spoken veteran of many armored artillery battles in Italy, France, Austria, Belgium and Germany, killed twelve persons with a war souvenir Luger pistol in his home block in East Camden this morning. He wounded four others. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707033921/http://www.pulitzer.org/article/mass-shooting-tight-deadline |archive-date=July 7, 2018  |url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name=smithsonian>
{{cite web |title=The Story of the First Mass Murder in U.S. History |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-first-mass-murder-us-history-180956927/ |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |first=Patrick |last=Sauer |date=October 14, 2015 |quote=He went into his apartment, uncased his German Luger P08, a 9mm pistol he'd purchased at a sporting goods store in Philadelphia for $37.50, and secured it with two clips and 33 loose cartridges. |access-date=July 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707011320/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-first-mass-murder-us-history-180956927/ |archive-date=July 7, 2018  |url-status=live}}
</ref>
| charge            = [[Murder (United States law)#Degrees|First-degree murder]] (x13) <br/> [[Assault#United States|Assault]] and [[battery (crime)#United States|battery]] (x3)
| conviction_status = Deceased
| module            = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance    = <!-- United States -->
| branch        = {{flag|United States Army}}
| serviceyears  = 1942–1945
| battles       = [[World War II]]
* [[Battle of the Bulge]]
* [[Operation Northwind (1944)|Operation Northwind]]
* [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|Central Europe Campaign]]
* [[Spring 1945 offensive in Italy|Operation Grapeshot]]
| awards        = [[European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal|European Theater of Operations Medal]] <br/> [[World War II Victory Medal]] <br/> [[Good Conduct Medal (United States)|Good Conduct Medal]]
}}
}}

'''Howard Barton Unruh''' (January 21, 1921 – October 19, 2009) was an American [[mass murder]]er{{NoteTag|Howard Unruh's status as a mass murderer versus a [[spree killer]] is disputed. The vast majority of listed sources classify him as a mass murderer.<ref>
[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/howard_unruh/index.html "All about mass murderer Howard Unruh"] {{
Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519084501/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/howard_unruh/index.html |date=May 19, 2011}} by [[Katherine Ramsland]]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=j2rdEgUIMLcC&pg=PA139 ''Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives'']; by [[Robert Ressler]], et al., Free Press, 1995.</ref>}} who shot and killed thirteen people during a twelve-minute walk through his neighborhood in [[Camden, New Jersey]], on September 6, 1949<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/19/first.mass.murderer/ |title=Suspect in historic mass murder dies at 88 |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=October 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023133614/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/19/first.mass.murderer/ |archive-date=October 23, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> in an incident that became known as the '''Walk of Death'''. Unruh was found [[criminally insane]] and died in 2009 after a lengthy illness at the age of 88 following 60 years of confinement.<ref name="death">{{cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/64889962.html?c=r|title=Camden mass murderer Howard Unruh dies at 88|publisher=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=October 20, 2009|access-date=August 7, 2011|archive-date=June 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606200103/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/64889962.html?c=r|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The shooting remains the deadliest mass shooting in New Jersey history, and is one of the first examples of a [[Mass shootings in the United States#Deadliest mass shootings since 1949|mass shooting in post-World War II U.S. history]].