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Luigi's Restaurant shooting

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Coordinates: 35°04′37″N 78°57′14″W / 35.0769°N 78.9539°W / 35.0769; -78.9539
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Luigi's Restaurant shooting
LocationFayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Coordinates35°04′37″N 78°57′14″W / 35.0769°N 78.9539°W / 35.0769; -78.9539
DateAugust 6, 1993 (1993-08-06) (UTC−04:00)
Attack type
Mass shooting, mass murder, hate crime
Weapons
Deaths4
Injured8 (including the perpetrator)
PerpetratorKenneth Junior French
MotiveOpposition to President Bill Clinton lifting the ban on homosexuals to serve in the military

On August 6, 1993, 22-year-old Fort Bragg soldier Kenneth Junior French, armed with two shotguns and a rifle, opened fire inside a Luigi's restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, killing four people and injuring seven others. The case was featured in the 1997 documentary film Licensed to Kill.[1][2]

Shooting

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At around 10 p.m., French drove to the restaurant in a black truck. Wearing shorts and a fishing vest, French exited the truck carrying a pump-action shotgun. French then entered the restaurant through the kitchen at the back of the building and then began to yell about politics and homosexuality before opening fire indiscriminately. Four people were killed, and seven injured. French was then shot and wounded by police lieutenant Bill Simons.[3][4][5][6]

Victims

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The victims that were killed were:

  • Wesley Scot Cover, 26
  • James F. Kidd, 46
  • Pete Parrous, 73 (the restaurant owner)
  • Ethel Parrous, 65 (Pete's wife)

Trial

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The accused was sergeant Kenneth French, a 22 year old US Army mechanic stationed at nearby Fort Bragg. He was charged with four counts of capital murder, and a further eight counts of assault. French's defense attorney said French was drunk at the time of the shooting, and held life-long anger, saying French's father had raped a family member.[7]

French was convicted for all four murders and eight assaults. The jury deadlocked on whether he should face the death penalty. French was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for the murders, with a further 35 years imprisonment for the assaults.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Soldier Kills 4 People and Hurts 6 In a Restaurant in North Carolina". The New York Times. 8 August 1993. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  2. ^ "PHOTOS: 25th anniversary of the Luigi's restaurant shooting". The Fayetteville Observer. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  3. ^ "Army Sergeant on Rampage Kills 4, Hurts 7". Los Angeles Times. 8 August 1993.
  4. ^ "4 Killed, 7 Hurt when Gunman Opens Fire in N.c. Restaurant". 8 August 1993.
  5. ^ "Case 2: Kenneth Junior French | High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty". deathpenaltycurriculum.org.
  6. ^ "Hero cop retires from Fayetteville police force". WRAL-TV. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Life term given in 4 slayings". The Buffalo News. 16 April 1994. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
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