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Back in 1949 Unruh was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. This was the norm back then with many people who were violent. Today it is unlikely that diagnosis would occur. [1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Borange ( talk • contribs) 23:02, 2 November 2012 (UTC)
Unruh(e) is German and means riot, trouble. 77.132.55.137 ( talk) 07:12, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
Yes, German "Ruhe" is rest, repose, quiet, calm, silence, as in "Ruhe und Ordnung" peace and order; "Unruh" is the opposite. Given the number of people with names like "Butcher" and "Slaughter" who never make the nightly news, the name is ironic. Naaman Brown ( talk) 12:16, 16 December 2011 (UTC)
Based upon the standard definition of spree killer, Unruh would not fit. When I removed that label, another editor put it back with a citation to a book by Robert Ressler. I tried to compromise by pointing out with sources that Katherine Ramsland calls it a mass murder and sources noting that he is known historically as the first mass murderer, with mention of Ressler's opposing view. The same editor then returned and edited to read spree killer so it looked like the sources supporting mass murder actually said spree instead and then still included Ressler's spree killer definition as if it were different from what was said earlier.
If multiple reliable sources disagree, I believe we should cite both views. In this case I think the mass murderer one should be listed first because more sources mention it, because Ramsland has degrees that Ressler does not, and because Unruh's main claim to fame as an important early mass murderer doesn't make any sense if he was a spree killer instead. DreamGuy ( talk) 22:45, 23 March 2011 (UTC)
Re this edit which describes Unruh as "the first single-episode mass murderer in U.S. history". It would be more accurate to say that this was the first single person mass shooting to kill more than ten people in the USA. Gilbert Twigg, who killed nine people in 1903 [2] is almost forgotten today.-- ♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 19:52, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-survivors-demand-action-gun-control-1.4538726
Hello
I have made a few changes to this article, and would welcome any comments/input on this, and thought I would talk a bit here about the reasons for them.
The article as it was, was cited mainly on sources which date from the time of Unruh's death in 2009, some 60 years after the actual events concerned, and while this doesn't necessarily have to be a problem, a study of the sources contemporary to the so-called Walk of Death reveal that some significant details used in the later sources, in particular the Smithsonian article, appear to be either based on dubious contemporary sources, or were later creations. This article, in turn, was heavily reliant on a report filed on the day of the shootings by Meyer Berger, "Veteran Kills 12 in Mad Rampage" which, readable though it is, contains information which cannot be regarded as reliable. For example, the story about the killer threatening his mother with a wrench originates in the Berger story, and appears in no other contemporary sources. Unruh himself makes no mention of this, and Freda's only published comments regarding her last moments with her son prior to the killings were that she was concerned about him, because his "eyes looked funny", which does not support the version of him threatening her with a wrench.
The story of the stolen gate also appears to be a confusion of a story which appears only in the Berger article, that Freda was so distraught about her son's dispute with Cohen, that she had begged a neighbor to make a little gate in their fence. But there is no other evidence of a gate, made by Unruh or anyone else, and according to Unruh's own account, as released by the Camden County prosecutor, it was the following morning, not the previous night, that he made up his mind to kill.
There are many other problems with the Berger article, including his fundamental chronology of events which differs from all other contemporary sources including the account of Unruh, which are not relevant here, but given that much of the information in these sections derived either from this article or from much later sources, the sources I have cited are more reliable and also offer more revealing information about the killings and the background to them. Makercomms ( talk) 17:46, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
Re this edit: I'm concerned that this is running into problems with WP:TOPIC and WP:TRIVIA. The use of the section heading "Miscellaneous" shows that this isn't directly related to the 1949 shooting.-- ♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:34, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
I have added a sentence about this. It seems fitting. The Smithsonian profile on Unruh begins with the failure of a gay lover to keep a date and this being the trigger for the shooting. There is probably more material to be added here; a couple of the victims had apparently been aware of Unruh's homosexuality, and he seemed paranoid others were as well. I am surprised this was not in the Wiki entry. [1]
Why is there bracketed info about some of the involved policemen? What purpose does this serve? ElleBlair ( talk) 19:25, 29 September 2021 (UTC)
One passage reads as follows:
"Approaching a bread-delivery truck, Unruh shoved his pistol through the door and shot at the driver. He missed his shot by a few inches and the driver unsuccessfully attempted to warn residents."
A later sentence says:
"Zegrino would be the only one of Unruh's intended targets to survive the rampage."
But that is contradicted by the first passage.
This is the
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Back in 1949 Unruh was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. This was the norm back then with many people who were violent. Today it is unlikely that diagnosis would occur. [1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Borange ( talk • contribs) 23:02, 2 November 2012 (UTC)
Unruh(e) is German and means riot, trouble. 77.132.55.137 ( talk) 07:12, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
Yes, German "Ruhe" is rest, repose, quiet, calm, silence, as in "Ruhe und Ordnung" peace and order; "Unruh" is the opposite. Given the number of people with names like "Butcher" and "Slaughter" who never make the nightly news, the name is ironic. Naaman Brown ( talk) 12:16, 16 December 2011 (UTC)
Based upon the standard definition of spree killer, Unruh would not fit. When I removed that label, another editor put it back with a citation to a book by Robert Ressler. I tried to compromise by pointing out with sources that Katherine Ramsland calls it a mass murder and sources noting that he is known historically as the first mass murderer, with mention of Ressler's opposing view. The same editor then returned and edited to read spree killer so it looked like the sources supporting mass murder actually said spree instead and then still included Ressler's spree killer definition as if it were different from what was said earlier.
If multiple reliable sources disagree, I believe we should cite both views. In this case I think the mass murderer one should be listed first because more sources mention it, because Ramsland has degrees that Ressler does not, and because Unruh's main claim to fame as an important early mass murderer doesn't make any sense if he was a spree killer instead. DreamGuy ( talk) 22:45, 23 March 2011 (UTC)
Re this edit which describes Unruh as "the first single-episode mass murderer in U.S. history". It would be more accurate to say that this was the first single person mass shooting to kill more than ten people in the USA. Gilbert Twigg, who killed nine people in 1903 [2] is almost forgotten today.-- ♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 19:52, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Howard Unruh. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.
Cheers. — cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 05:11, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Howard Unruh. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{ Sourcecheck}}).
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
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(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 06:13, 28 February 2016 (UTC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-survivors-demand-action-gun-control-1.4538726
Hello
I have made a few changes to this article, and would welcome any comments/input on this, and thought I would talk a bit here about the reasons for them.
The article as it was, was cited mainly on sources which date from the time of Unruh's death in 2009, some 60 years after the actual events concerned, and while this doesn't necessarily have to be a problem, a study of the sources contemporary to the so-called Walk of Death reveal that some significant details used in the later sources, in particular the Smithsonian article, appear to be either based on dubious contemporary sources, or were later creations. This article, in turn, was heavily reliant on a report filed on the day of the shootings by Meyer Berger, "Veteran Kills 12 in Mad Rampage" which, readable though it is, contains information which cannot be regarded as reliable. For example, the story about the killer threatening his mother with a wrench originates in the Berger story, and appears in no other contemporary sources. Unruh himself makes no mention of this, and Freda's only published comments regarding her last moments with her son prior to the killings were that she was concerned about him, because his "eyes looked funny", which does not support the version of him threatening her with a wrench.
The story of the stolen gate also appears to be a confusion of a story which appears only in the Berger article, that Freda was so distraught about her son's dispute with Cohen, that she had begged a neighbor to make a little gate in their fence. But there is no other evidence of a gate, made by Unruh or anyone else, and according to Unruh's own account, as released by the Camden County prosecutor, it was the following morning, not the previous night, that he made up his mind to kill.
There are many other problems with the Berger article, including his fundamental chronology of events which differs from all other contemporary sources including the account of Unruh, which are not relevant here, but given that much of the information in these sections derived either from this article or from much later sources, the sources I have cited are more reliable and also offer more revealing information about the killings and the background to them. Makercomms ( talk) 17:46, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
Re this edit: I'm concerned that this is running into problems with WP:TOPIC and WP:TRIVIA. The use of the section heading "Miscellaneous" shows that this isn't directly related to the 1949 shooting.-- ♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:34, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
I have added a sentence about this. It seems fitting. The Smithsonian profile on Unruh begins with the failure of a gay lover to keep a date and this being the trigger for the shooting. There is probably more material to be added here; a couple of the victims had apparently been aware of Unruh's homosexuality, and he seemed paranoid others were as well. I am surprised this was not in the Wiki entry. [1]
Why is there bracketed info about some of the involved policemen? What purpose does this serve? ElleBlair ( talk) 19:25, 29 September 2021 (UTC)
One passage reads as follows:
"Approaching a bread-delivery truck, Unruh shoved his pistol through the door and shot at the driver. He missed his shot by a few inches and the driver unsuccessfully attempted to warn residents."
A later sentence says:
"Zegrino would be the only one of Unruh's intended targets to survive the rampage."
But that is contradicted by the first passage.