The deadliest college campus shootings in U.S. history

One of the deadliest campus shootings in American history took place at Virginia Tech in 2007. Here, in this archive photo, an unidentified family member wipes her face as she placed a flower on a memorial marker during ceremonies marking the second anniversary of the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech on the campus of the school in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

One of the deadliest campus shootings in American history took place at Virginia Tech in 2007. Here, in this archive photo, an unidentified family member wipes her face as she placed a flower on a memorial marker during ceremonies marking the second anniversary of the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech on the campus of the school in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Here are some of the deadliest college campus shootings in American history:

Aug. 1, 1966: University of Texas massacre: A 96-minute shooting rampage from the observation deck of The Tower building at the University of Texas-Austin left 17 dead and 31 injured. The assailant was identified as engineering student Charles Whitman, who hours before had stabbed both his mother and wife to death. He was nicknamed the "Texas Tower Sniper." His rampage ended when Austin police officers shot and killed him.

Nov. 12, 1966: Rose-Mar College of Beauty shootings: Robert Benjamin Smith, age 18, shot and killed 5, including a 3-year-old girl, and injured two more with a .22-caliber pistol at Rose-Mar College of Beauty in Mesa, Arizona. He confessed to the killings and was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but because of a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court moratorium on the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to life. Smith said he sought fame through his actions and identified as his heroes Whitman as well as Richard Benjamin Speck, who tortured, raped and murdered eight Illinois nursing students on July 14, 1966.

Nov. 1, 1991: University of Iowa shooting: A former graduate student named Gang Lu shot and killed 4 faculty and administrators in the physics and astronomy department and injured another before committing suicide.

April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech shooting: A 23-year-old student, Seung-Hui Cho, shot and killed 32 students and faculty before committing suicide. He had enrolled in business information technology, then in his senior year switched his major to English.

Feb. 14, 2008: Northern Illinois University shooting: Former sociology student 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak used a shotgun and three pistols to kill five and injure 21 more before committing suicide. At the time, Kazmierczak was enrolled in a graduate social work program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

April 2, 2012: Oikos University shooting: Former student One L. Goh is suspected of shooting and killing seven, and injured three others at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, Calif. He fled campus and surrendered to authorities as a Safeway grocery store. He was determined mentally incompetent to stand trial and was committed for treatment.

June 7, 2013: Santa Monica shooting: Former student John Samir Zawahri killed his father and brother, then carjacked a stranger, forcing her to drive him to Santa Monica College. Armed with an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle, he began shooting at vehicles on campus. Then he walked into the library and opened fire. Altogether his rampage claimed the lives of 5 and injured 4 others. Police officers shot him in the library, and he later died from his wounds.

Oct. 1, 2015: Umpqua Community College: A 26-year-old student, Christopher Harper-Mercer, was enrolled in a writing class. He walked into the classroom and shot and killed 9 and injured 9 others. He asked at least two students what their religion was before he shot them. He committed suicide following a gunfight with police officers.

About the Author