1982 Wilkes-Barre shootings
| 1982 Wilkes-Barre shootings | |
|---|---|
| Location | Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Date | September 25, 1982 |
Attack type | Mass shooting, spree shooting, mass murder, familicide |
| Weapons | Colt AR-15 SP1 semi-automatic rifle |
| Deaths | 13 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrator | George Emil Banks |
| Verdict | Guilty on all counts |
| Convictions | First-degree murder (12 counts) Third-degree murder Attempted murder |
| Sentence | Death |
The 1982 Wilkes-Barre shootings was a spree shooting which occurred in the United States on September 25, 1982, carried out by George Emil Banks, a former Camp Hill prison guard. Banks fatally shot 13 people in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania. The victims included seven children – five being his own – their mothers, some of their relatives, and one bystander.
Banks' attorneys argued for the insanity defense, but, following a trial Banks was convicted of 12 counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
On November 29, 1990, the Pennsylvania State Legislature barred further use of the electric chair amid debate that electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment; it approved execution by lethal injection. Banks's case was appealed and, on December 2, 2004, he received a stay of execution following a determination that he was incompetent for execution. On May 12, 2010, Banks was declared incompetent to be executed, following a competency hearing held the previous month.
The shooting remains the deadliest in the history of Pennsylvania.