This is a list of mass or spree killers that were considered by reliable sources to have been motivated by political or religious causes. A mass murderer is typically defined as someone who kills three or more people in one incident, with no "cooling off" period, not including themselves. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more persons kill several others.
This list does not include serial killers, members of democidal governments, or major political figures who orchestrated such actions.
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Africa Perpetrator Date Year Location CountryKilledInjured W Additional notesRef. Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, 21, Jihad Mohammed Ali, 24 7 Aug 1998 Nairobi FE Ali committed suicide bombingAl-Owhali sentenced to life without parole Abdul Hadi al-Fulani 18 Jan2017GaoVECommitted suicide Dhuhulow, Hassan Abdi, 23Abukar, Ahmed Hassan, 19-23Said, Mohammed Abdinur, 19-23Osman, Yahye Ahmed, 14-15 21-24 Sep 2013 Nairobi FE All killed by police1 killed and 2 injured in friendly-fire incident Yacoubi, Seifeddine Rezgui, (سيف الدين رزقي اليعقوبي) 26 June 2015 Sousse FE Killed by police Two unknown men 24 Aug 2010 Mogadishu FE Both committed suicide Mahmoud Shafiq Mohammed Mustafa, 22 11 Dec2016CairoECommitted suicide Labidi, Yassine, 20Khachnaoui, Saber, 26 18 March 2015 Tunis F Both killed by police Abbas al-Baqir Abbas, 33 (عباس الباقر عباس) 8 Dec 2000 Jarafa F Killed by police Two unknown men 20 Nov 2015 Bamako FE Both killed by soldiers Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar, 24 11 April2002DjerbaECommitted suicide Adil El-Atmani, 25 28 Apr 2011 Marrakesh E Sentenced to death Abdelli, Houssem, 27 24 Nov2015TunisECommitted suicide bombing Khumalo, Banda, 38Assailant was a member of the military, police, or a comparable force at the time of the rampage. 4 Dec 1977 Bulawayo F Killed by police Hamden Khalif Allah Awad, 27 7 Aug 1998 Dar es Salaam E Committed suicide ben Hassan, Adouani Hamouda, 27 18 March1987Djibouti CityESentenced to deathKhalid Al-Islambuli, 26Hussein Abbas Mohammed, 21Atta Tayel Hemeida, 21Abdel-Hamad Abdel-Salem Abdel-Aal, 31 6 Oct1981CairoFEAll four were sentenced to death and executed Ibrahim Ismail Ismail Mustafa, 33 29 Dec 2017 Cairo F Sentenced to death and executedSuspected of other attacks Strydom, Barend Hendrik, 23 15 Nov 1988 De Deur & Pretoria F Sentenced to death plus 30 years Suleiman Mohammed Abdul-Hamid Khater, 24 (سليمان خاطر) 5 Oct 1985 Ras Burqa F Sentenced to life imprisonment Mohamed, Hamza Hassan, 29 25 Aug 2021 Dar es Salaam F Killed by police Nel, Jozef Johannes, 18 14 Jan 2008 Skierlik F Sentenced to life imprisonment Also killed one ostrich
Americas Perpetrator Date Year Location CountryKilledInjured W Additional notesRef. McVeigh, Timothy James, 26Nichols, Terry Lynn, 40 19 April 1995 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma E McVeigh sentenced to death and executed.Nichols sentenced to life imprisonment. Berro, Hussein Ibrahim, 21 (ابراهيم حسين برّو) 18 July1994Buenos AiresECommitted suicide Mateen, Omar Mir Seddique, 12 June 2016 Orlando, Florida F Killed by police Arellan, John Freddy, 26 7 Feb2003BogotáEDied in the blastMuhammad Nur Al-Din Nuer Al-Din, 24 17 March1992Buenos AiresECommitted suicide bombing Crusius, Patrick Wood, 21 3 Aug 2019 El Paso, Texas F Sentenced to life imprisonment Rojas Rodríguez, Aldemar José, 5717 Jan2019BogotáECommitted suicideAli Hawa Jamal 19 July1994Colón ProvinceECommitted suicide bombing Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42 1 Jan 2025 New Orleans FV Killed by police Farook, Syed Rizwan, Malik, Tashfeen, 2 Dec 2015 San Bernardino, California F Both killed by police Hasan, Nidal Malik, 39 5 Nov2009Fort Hood, TexasFSentenced to death Bowers, Robert Gregory, 46 27 Oct 2018 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania F Sentenced to death Gendron, Payton S., 18 14 May 2022 Buffalo, New York United States F Sentenced to life imprisonment Essex, Mark James Robert, 31 Dec/7 Jan 1972–3 New Orleans, Louisiana United States FA Killed by police Roof, Dylann Storm, 21 17 June 2015 Charleston, South Carolina United States F Sentenced to death Garcia, Mauricio Martinez, 33 6 May 2023 Allen, Texas United States F Killed by police Smith, Roland James, 8 Dec 1995 New York City, New York United States FA Committed suicide Ratzmann, Terry, 44 12 March 2005 Brookfield, Wisconsin United States F Committed suicide Page, Wade Michael, 5 Aug 2012 Oak Creek, Wisconsin United States F Committed suicide One of the victims died in 2020; attributed to this event Watson, Charles Denton, 23Krenwinkel, Patricia, 21Van Houten, Leslie, 19Atkins, Susan, 21 9-10 Aug1969Los Angeles, California United StatesFMAll arrested, sentenced to death and commuted; Atkins died in prison in 2009 Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, 24Eyad Ismoil, 21 26 Feb 1993 New York City United States E Yousef was sentenced to life in prison; Ismoil was sentenced to 240 years in prison, commuted to 210;; Yousef killed one other person one year later Ferguson, Colin, 7 Dec 1993 Garden City, New York United States F Sentenced to 315 years and 8 months to life imprisonment Bissonnette, Alexandre, 27 Jan 29 2017 Quebec City, Quebec Canada F Sentenced to life imprisonment Christopher, Joseph Gerard, 2522 Dec–1/18 Jan1980/1981New York, Buffalo, & Rochester, New York Fort Benning, Georgia United StatesMSentenced to 60 years to life in prisonKilled 6 and injured 1 other in 1980 Hastings, Louis D., 3 March 1983 McCarthy, Alaska United States F Sentenced to 634 years in prison Franklin, Joseph Paul, 30 8/15/25 June1980Cincinnati, OhioJohnstown, PennsylvaniaPocahontas County, West Virginia United StatesFSentenced to death and executed McCree, Clifton, 9 Feb 1996 Fort Lauderdale, Florida United States F Committed suicideOne of the victims died in 2006; attributed to this event Tsarnaev, Tamerlan Anzorovich, 26Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar Anzorovich, 19 15-19 Apr 2013 Boston, Watertown, & Cambridge, Massachusetts United States FEV Tamerlan was fatally ran over by his brother; Dzhokhar was convicted and remains on death rowOne victim died in 2014, attributed to this eventTamerlan is suspected of murdering three other people Aldrich, Anderson Lee, 22 19–20 Nov 2022 Colorado Springs United States F Sentenced to life imprisonment Johnson, Micah Xavier, 25 7 July 2016 Dallas, Texas United States F Killed by police Sanford, Thomas Jacob, 40 28 Sep 2025 Grand Blanc Township, Michigan United States FA Killed by police French, Kenneth Junior, 6 Aug 1993 Fayetteville United States F Sentenced to life imprisonment Lambright, Donald Martin, 5 April 1969 Harrisburg United States F Committed suicide Kurbegovic, Muharem, 31 6 Aug 1974 Los Angeles United States E Sentenced to life in prison de Gouveia, João, 37 6 Dec 2002 Caracas Venezuela F Sentenced to 29 years and 11 months in prison Diagne, Ndiaga, 53 1 March 2026 Austin, Texas United States F Killed by police Lortie, Denis, 25 8 May 1984 Quebec City, Quebec Canada F Sentenced to life imprisonment Legan, Santino William, 19 28 July 2019 Gilroy United States F Committed suicide Dear, Robert Lewis, 57 27 Nov 2015 Colorado Springs, Colorado United States F Found mentally unfit to stand trial Palmeter, Ryan Christopher, 21 26 Aug 2023 Jacksonville, Florida United States F Committed suicide
Asia Perpetrator Date Year Location CountryKilledInjured W Additional notesRef. Hossein Takb'alizadeh, 20, Faraj Bazrkar,Fallah Mohammadi,Yadollah Mohammadpur 19 Aug 1978 Abadan Iran A Takb'alizadeh was executed in 1980; his three accomplices died in the fire Abdul Rahman al-Logari, 25 26 Aug2021KabulECommitted suicideTwo unknown men 22 Sep2013Peshawar PakistanFEBoth committed suicideRa'ed Mansour al-Banna, 32 28 Feb2005Hillah IraqECommitted suicide Dellosa, Redondo Cain, 31 27 Feb 2004 Corregidor or El Fraile Philippines E Sentenced to life in prison for a separate case Kim Hyon-Hui, 25 (김현희)