Massachusetts’ Most Deadly Mass Shootings in Modern History

When you think of mass shootings, you probably think of Las Vegas, Columbine or Sandy Hook. Someplace other than here because those things don't happen in Massachusetts – or do they?

In the early hours of January 12, 1991, five men were shot and killed execution-style in what became known as the Boston Chinatown Massacre, or Tyler Street Massacre. It happened at a "gambling den" in Boston's Chinatown. A sixth man was shot but survived.

Two members of the Ping-On gang, Nam The Tham and Siny Van Tran, were extradited from China and convicted of the murders. A third suspect, Pham Tien Hung, remains at large.

On December 14, 1992, Wayne Lo opened fire at Bard's College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, killing a student and a professor. Four others were injured but survived the attack. Lo is serving two life prison sentences.

The worst mass shooting in modern Massachusetts history occurred on December 26, 2000, at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield. Michael Morgan McDermott, born Michael Morgan Martinez on September 4, 1958, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, shot and killed seven of his co-workers at Edgewood.

McDermott grew up in Marshfield and was a 1976 graduate of Marshfield High School. His parents were teachers.

McDermott was honorably discharged by the U.S. Navy after serving six years. He spent six years working for the Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Maine before moving to Weymouth, Massachusetts, and a job at Duracell.

Following a marriage that ended in divorce several years later, McDermott took a job with Edgewater Technology in 2000. Before the shooting, McDermott moved several more times while amassing a large amount of debt, including back taxes.

Using an AK-47 variant, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a .32 caliber pistol, McDermott fired off a total of 37 rounds in the Harvard Mills office building at Edgewater Technology, shooting his victims in the back of the head multiple times.

Get our free mobile app

Four of McDermott's victims were women and seven were men ranging in age from 29 to 58 years old.

McDermott was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison without parole. At last check, McDermott is incarcerated at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater.

Court TV revisited the case in September 2022.

Axios has a list of the deadliest mass shootings in modern American history.