Central Coast massacre
{{Short description|A spree shooting by Malcolm George Baker}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Central Coast massacre
| image =
| caption =
| location = Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia
| coordinates =
| date = 27 October 1992
| time = 9:12 p.m. – 10 p.m.
| timezone =
| type = Mass murder, spree shooting
| fatalities = 6
| injuries = 1
| perp = Malcolm George Baker
| weapons = Sawed-off Remington 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun{{Cite web|url=https://hunterwriterscentre.org/2019/08/05/true-crime-writing-part-1/|title = True Crime Writing Part 1|date = 19 August 2019}}
}}
The Central Coast massacre was a shooting spree killing that occurred on the evening of 27 October 1992 on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia{{Cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/the-central-coast-massacre-25-years-on/news-story/a4fedff2c2baa90163383f59b7d0be84|title = 'Get here now, all hell has broken loose'|newspaper = News.com.au|date = 25 October 2017|last1 = Hogan|first1 = Nicole}}Reuter. Man charged over killing six. New Straits Times: 29 October 1992, p.22. when 45-year-old motor mechanic Malcolm Baker killed six people and an unborn child, and injured one other person.The Associated Press. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TTcdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v6UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5579,8166430&dq= Police think gunman placed ad to his victim]. The Tuscaloosa News: 29 October 1992, p. 4A. On 6 August 1993, Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the six murders.{{cite web
| url = http://www.anzsoc.org/conferences/1998/anderson.pdf
| title = SENTENCING FOR "LIFE" IN NEW SOUTH WALES
| publisher = John Anderson
| accessdate = 2011-07-18
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090915035226/http://www.anzsoc.org/conferences/1998/anderson.pdf
| archive-date = 15 September 2009
| url-status = dead
}}
Background
Baker had dated one of his victims, 23-year-old Kerry Gannon, for several years. She broke off the relationship about six weeks before the shootings. It was reported that a court had ordered Baker not to contact Gannon after their break up. Channel Nine television reported that authorities had revoked Baker's weapon's permit and confiscated a cache of weapons from him weeks prior after he allegedly harassed Gannon.
Shootings
The shootings started at 9:12 p.m. at the Terrigal apartment shared by Kerry Gannon and her 18-year-old sister Lisa Gannon, who was pregnant. Both were shot dead and their bodies were discovered inside the apartment. Their father, Thomas Gannon, 43, who had been visiting for a few days, was found dead in the street. Twenty-two-year-old Christopher Gall, a friend of the sisters, was severely injured, suffering a gunshot wound to the face.
Baker then drove to Bateau Bay, where he arrived about ten minutes later, and shot dead his 27-year-old son David. His body was discovered in the back yard of the home he shared with his wife and baby.
Baker then went to a house in Wyong, 15 kilometres north of Bateau Bay. Arriving there shortly before 10 p.m., he shot dead Ross Smith, 35, and critically injured Leslie Read, 25, at the home they shared. Read died two hours later in hospital. Smith and Baker had had a confrontation about two years prior, over a business deal gone sour.
Lisa Gannon was due to give birth to her child in December. Efforts to save her baby failed.
At 11.00 p.m., Baker walked into a police station, surrendered, and handed over a sawn-off Remington 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun. Baker was charged with six counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993.{{Cite web |url=https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/central-coast-massacre-mother-of-murdered-daughter/3250109/ |title=Central Coast massacre. Mother of murdered daughter |access-date=22 February 2021 |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027050843/https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/central-coast-massacre-mother-of-murdered-daughter/3250109/ |url-status=dead }} He died in jail on 22 June 2024, at the age of 76.{{cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/murderer-who-killed-six-people-and-two-unborn-children-dies-in-jail/ar-BB1oJlJt|title=Malcolm George Baker: Mass murderer who killed his ex and six others in NSW Central Coast massacre dies behind bars|date=23 June 2024|work=Daily Mail|accessdate=23 June 2024}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=June 2024}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070707103223/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/V3Key/LC19960626006 Firearms Bill], Parliament of New South Wales (26 June 1996)
External links
- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AK&s_site=ohio&p_multi=AK&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB62E8F5992017D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Gunman slays his girlfriend, 5 others], Akron Beacon Journal (29 October 1992)
- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB71A3BDEBCE888&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Shotgun rampage kills 6 in Australia], San Jose Mercury News (28 October 1992)
- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF3E5240D04258&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Classified ad to woman preceded slayings of six], The Kansas City Star (29 October 1992)
- [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WrkTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UZADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5604,3500649&dq= Man charged over killing of six], New Straits Times (29 October 1992)
- [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3KwTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dQcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5415,5990046&dq= Ad in aftermath of killings], Ocala Star-Banner (29 October 1992)
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australian-massacre-charge-1560167.html Australian massacre charge], The Independent (29 October 1992)
{{coord missing|New South Wales}}
{{Mass shootings in Australia}}
Category:1992 murders in Australia
Category:1990s in New South Wales
Category:Deaths by firearm in New South Wales
Category:Filicides in Australia
Category:Massacres in Australia
Category:Murder in New South Wales
Category:October 1992 in Australia