10 Shocking Crimes Where NO ONE Was Safe

10 Shocking Crimes Where NO ONE Was Safe

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were looking at ten horrific crimes in which the perp just killed randomly and wantonly with a complete disregard to demographics.

The Boston Marathon Bombing

By their very natures, bombs are not meant to discriminate. They are meant to explode and cause as much death and damage as humanly possible, regardless of who is in the immediate vicinity. The Boston Marathon is a huge and open event. Anyone can come and watch, including families with young kids, tourists, locals - anyone. And when the two bombs went off on April 15, 2013, these people were targeted, resulting in three deaths and nearly 300 injuries. Incredible violence aside, the bombing also had a huge psychological impact on the country, leaving people paranoid about future attacks and shattering the illusion that big public gatherings were inherently safe.

Columbine

Its a myth that the Columbine shooters were targeting their tormenters, and this so-called motive has long been debunked. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold[a] were very angry teenagers, and their motive was not revenge, but a sick desire to cause as much pain as possible and leave a lasting impression. This played out during the events of Columbine, which was actually intended to be a far more destructive bombing. The two planted propane bombs in the school, but these failed to go off, forcing them to change their plans. Harris and Klebold then stormed the school with guns and attacked indiscriminately, killing students completely at random and whoever happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Bath[b] School Disaster

Occurring on May 18, 1927, the Bath School disaster has been somewhat forgotten, despite being the deadliest school massacre in American history. The perpetrator was Andrew Kehoe, a disgruntled local farmer and school board member. Kehoe had recently lost his position as the boards treasurer and was heavily in debt, resenting the local property taxes that were raised to fund the construction of the school. So he blew it up. A massive explosion rocked the north wing of the school at 8:45 AM. Kehoe then arrived at the panicked scene with a truck full of dynamite and shrapnel. It too exploded, killing Kehoe and several bystanders. In the end, 58 people were injured and 45 more were dead, including 38 children.

The 2017 Las Vegas Shooting

History was made on October 1, 2017, when the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual occurred in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock[c] opened fire on a crowd of over 20,000 concertgoers who were harmlessly attending the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Strip. He took potshots at the massive crowd from his hotel room window, targeting no one in particular. Sixty people died as a result of the shooting, and a staggering 867 were injured, either directly from the shots or in the ensuing panic. Despite an extensive investigation by the FBI, no clear motive was ever determined, further deepening the mystery and the ultimate fear of no one being safe.

The Aurora Theater Shooting

This attack is ripped straight from a nightmare. On July 20, 2012, about 400 people were packed into a Colorado movie theater to watch The Dark Knight Rises. It was a simple night out for many, the audience containing couples, families, and friends. Unfortunately, they were all the target of James Eagan Holmes, who set off tear gas and shot randomly into the trapped crowd. Holmess notebook claims that he chose a theater for its simplicity and audience density. He didnt care who he hit - he just wanted a high body count. When the shooting stopped, thirteen were dead and 70 more injured. Included in the body count was the six-year-old daughter of Ashley Moser and her unborn child, as Moser miscarried after being shot.

The Gwangju[d] Uprising

It wasnt long ago that South Korea was a dictatorship. General Chun Doo-hwan seized power and declared martial law in May 1980, shutting down universities and banning political activity. This led to a civilian uprising in the city of Gwangju, but the Korean military entered the city in a deadly assault on the morning of May 27. They violently squashed the protest, with the estimated number of deaths ranging from 600 to over 2,000. Victims were massacred indiscriminately and included the likes of young students, hospital staff, the elderly, and bystanders who were caught in the crossfire. These bodies were then buried in mass graves and the government framed the uprising as a communist rebellion, silencing the victims for many years.

The Manchester Arena Bombing

This act of terrorism had a particularly devastating impact because of who it targeted - thousands of young children and teenagers who were attending an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Shortly after the show ended, an Islamic terrorist detonated a device in the arenas foyer, killing 22 people and injuring over 1,000. Many of the victims were young children, teenagers, and nearby parents waiting to pick up their happy kids. The attack didnt discriminate, and the victims werent chosen for anything they did. They were just there, enjoying a night out. That complete randomness is part of what made the attack feel so terrifying and personal to so many people.

Pan Am Flight 103

The deadliest terrorist attack in UK history occurred on December 21, 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie[e]. The plane had 259 occupants, including families flying for the holidays, an experienced American crew, and 35 students from Syracuse University returning home from a study-abroad program. And then there were the indirect victims. You see, debris from the destroyed plane rained down onto the streets of Lockerbie, where citizens were simply going about their lives. The wreckage hit residential streets and homes, exploding into massive fireballs and killing eleven more people. Blame was eventually placed on Libyan nationals, but the victims were everyday people far removed from the turbulent nature of geopolitics.

The Oklahoma City Bombing

Shortly after 9 AM on the morning of April 19, 1995, just as people were settling into work in the Alfred P. Murrah[f] Federal Building, an enormous truck bomb was activated by anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh. The blast destroyed one-third of the building, injuring hundreds and killing 167 people. The explosion was meant to cause as much damage as possible, and the victims included federal employees, citizens conducting government business, and perhaps most traumatic of all, children attending the buildings daycare center. There was no logic to the deaths, and it served as a gutting reminder that terror could strike anywhere and at any time.

9/11

The victims of September 11, 2001 were a diverse group of nearly 3,000 people whose lives were taken in an unprecedented act of terrorism on U.S. soil. Its one of the most indiscriminate crimes in modern history, killing anyone who happened to be in the vicinity. Citizens from over ninety countries died in the attacks, their ages ranging from two to 85. Workers in the various buildings, first responders, passengers and crew of the planes, people on the ground - all walks of life were targeted. To make matters worse, thousands more have since died or suffered from illnesses related to toxic exposure at Ground Zero - particularly among first responders and recovery workers. All are now remembered by name at the 9/11 Memorial.

Do you fear attacks of a similar nature? Let us know in the comments below!

[a]KLEE-bold https://youtu.be/3OdUxFii1xE?si=g8gWmiDigMqDbYYf&t=87

[b]bath (as spelled) https://youtu.be/nj8QlOasd4U?si=ObLS2pOgTazQEfW7&t=10
andrew KEE-hoh https://youtu.be/nj8QlOasd4U?si=hhFsKK1D3ECxErEb&t=7
[c]steven PAD-ick https://youtu.be/cVfzxLvIxi8?si=ba1MBYL4LuIQ1h7r&t=1376
[d]KWONG-joo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/Ko-%EA%B4%91%EC%A3%BC.oga/Ko-%EA%B4%91%EC%A3%BC.oga.mp3
chunn doo-h'WAN (korean, pls listen!) https://forvo.com/search/%EC%A0%84%EB%91%90%ED%99%98/
[e]LOCKER-bee https://youtu.be/hLzzekWjS28?si=AUTpIC6npk9IrlFh&t=47
[f]murra https://youtu.be/T1z4H8hWfsM?si=wVREsPvFVuu0_KSO&t=17
mick-VAY https://youtu.be/QZ68QvQqSvY?si=ul7quAUOuQmoj3Md&t=81