McDonald's Massacre: Unraveling James Huberty's Rampage

Uncover the shocking story of James Huberty in this gripping true crime podcast. Dive deep into the chilling events of July 18, 1984, when Huberty unleashed unimaginable terror during the infamous McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California. Through riveting analysis, expert interviews, and detailed storytelling, we explore the complex psyche behind this tragic event, the victims’ untold stories, and the aftermath that shook the nation. 

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Sources:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358291/If-kill-father-Daughter-notorious-San-Ysidro-McDonald-s-gunman-James-Huberty-speaks-trauma-30-years-on.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre
https://www.borderreport.com/news/mcdonalds-massacre-survivor-now-police-captain-recalls-surviving-being-shot-several-times

#truecrimepodcast #murdermystery #truecrime #massacre

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to another episode of Bloodstained Backstories. I'm your
host Jace.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And I'm your Host Summer.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Today's episode may have some content that is disturbing to
some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Where is the happiest place that most kids like to go? McDonald's.
They love to toy in the happy meal, the relaxed atmosphere,
and being there with their family. It should be a
day of smiles, but not on July eighteenth, nineteen eighty four,
in the sanyaz Duro McDonald's, it was the day of
sadness and terror. Listen as our story unfolds and we

(00:40):
take you on this wild journey, a scary ride of
seventy seven minutes of pure hell for the patrons at
one McDonald's restaurant.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
On July fifteenth, nineteen eighty four, James Huberty told his
wife that he believed he had a mental health problem.
On the morning of July seventeen, just two days after
he told his wife what he was feeling, he called
a San Diego mental health clinic, requesting an appointment. James
talked to a receptionist and left his contact information in

(01:11):
details as to why he was requesting the appointment. James
was assured by the receptionist that someone would call him
back within a few hours. James's wife, Etna, noted that
James sat by the phone quietly for several hours waiting
for the clinic to call him back. He all of
a sudden walked abruptly out of the family home, took
his motorcycle, and went on a ride to an unknown destination.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
It later became known that the receptionist had misspelled James's name,
she spelled it Schuberty instead of Huberty. Plus, his politeness
on the phone conveyed no sense of urgency to the receptionist.
He had also stated while on the phone that he
had never been hospitalized for mental health issues. Since there
did not seem a sense of urgency, the call was

(01:58):
logged as a non christ this inquiry to be handled
within forty eight hours.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
What a shame that was to promise him a call
back in a couple hours and then log it as
a non crisis call. The receptionist should not have promised
a call within a couple hours. Had they actually taken
this serious, the events that take place next may not
have happened because he would have received the help he needed.
James returned home about an hour later when he seemed

(02:27):
to be in a contented mood. The family ate dinner
together and they went on a family bike ride husband, wife,
and two daughters later that evening. When they came home,
James and Etna watched a movie together.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
The following day, Wednesday, July eighteenth, the family had a
fun filled morning together at the San Diego Zoo. While
walking through the zoo, James told his wife that he
believed his life was effectively over. He then made a
comment which he was referring to the mental health clinic
he called the day before. He stated, well, society had

(03:00):
their chance. They ate lunch at a McDonald's and Claremont,
not far from the zoo, and then they returned home.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Shortly after arriving home, Etna was lying on their bed
relaxing when James walked into the room wearing a marine
T shirt and camouflage pants. He leaned towards his wife
on the bed and said, I want to kiss you goodbye.
Edna gave her husband a kiss and asked where he
was going, informing him that she was going to start
dinner soon. James calmly replied that he was going hunting.

(03:33):
He wasn't hunting rabbits though he was hunting humans.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
James walked toward the front door, carrying a gun across
his shoulder, a box of ammunition, and a bundle wrapped
in a checkered blanket. He glanced toward his oldest daughter, Zilia,
and said goodbye. I won't be back. How confused his
family must have.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Been, Eyewitnesses said. James drove down the Sanya's Daruro Boulevard,
first to the Big Bears supermarket and then towards the
post office. He then ended a parking lot of McDonald's.
The McDonald's was approximately twenty yards from his apartment.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Now we know the hours leading up to the horrific event,
but before we go further, let's get to know James Huberty.
James was born on October eleventh, nineteen forty two, in Canton, Ohio.
He was the second of two children. His parents were
very religious, and the family often attended a local United
Methodist church.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
James walked with the olymp as he contracted polio when
he was three years old. He wore steel and other
braces on both legs as a child and eventually made
enough of a recovery that he didn't need to wear
them anymore, but he walked with a mild limb for
the remainder of his life.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
In nineteen fifty, James's dad purchased one hundred and fifty
five Baker Farm in Mount Eaton, but his mother refused
to even go see the property, as she refused to
live in a rural of time. Shortly after the purchase
of the farm, she abandoned the family and went on
to perform sidewalk preaching as a Pentecostal missionary in Tucson, Arizona.

(05:11):
James was emotionally devastated that his mother abandoned them, and
his father would later recall finding his son leaning against
the chicken coop sobbing.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
James had few friends growing up, and he was most
interested in spending his time target practicing. He was frequently
bullied at school, and he graduated fifty first out of
his class of seventy seven students in nineteen sixty. He
enrolled in college in nineteen sixty two and originally planned
to study sociology, but that soon changed when he attended

(05:42):
the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and he graduated with
honors in nineteen sixty four with his funerals director's license,
and then the following year he received his enbalmer's license.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
In early nineteen sixty five, he married Etna, and shortly
after they got married, he landed in employment at a
funeral home in Canon. He was very proficient at a bombing,
but his introverted personality did not go well when dealing
with members of the public. He worked there for two
years before he decided to become a welder for a

(06:15):
firm in Lewisville.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
In June of nineteen sixty nine, he secured a better
paying job at Badcock and Wilcock. James's employers considered him
to be a reliable worker who was willing to work overtime,
and he earned promotions that by the mid nineteen seventies
he was making twenty five thousand and thirty thousand dollars
a year, which for this time was actually a very
decent salary. James and Etna bought a three story home

(06:41):
in an affluent section of Malison, Ohio, but sadly, in
the winter of nineteen seventy one, their home was destroyed
by a fire. They purchased another house on the same
street a few years later and built a six unit
apartment building on the property of their first home. James
and Edna's daughters, zeale Yat and Cassan were born in
nineteen seventy two. In nineteen seventy four.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Sounds like a pichaperfect family. Father had a good job,
stay at home mother, two beautiful children, nice house, and
special edit income with the apartment building. But behind closed
doors was a different story. James had a history of
domestic violence. He would frequently slap or punch his daughters
and hold knives to their throats. At one point, Edna

(07:28):
filed a report with the Canton Department of Children and
Family Family Services stating that James had messed up her jaw.
She later insisted that the majority of time he had
assaulted her, he struck her only one time. Starting in
nineteen seventy six, Edna attempted many times to persuade her

(07:48):
husband to go to counseling to help him with his stress.
He refused to seek any form of therapy. Edna went
to great lengths to minimize agitating her husband. Developed the
way to calm James, and that was by claiming she
could tell his future by reading Tara cards. James believed
her in her readings producing a calming effect, and James

(08:11):
would follow her recommendations that she made during the readings.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
James was a conspiracy theorist and a self proclaimed survivalist.
James believed the Cold War was inevitable and that the
president's in office at the time and the United States
government were conspiring against him. James believed that a breakdown
of society was approaching fast. He prepared to survive if
the future held such problems, and he stocked his house

(08:37):
with supplies of non perishable foods and numerous guns, and
he intended to use them to defend his home. A
family friend stated that James's home had so many loaded
firearms that wherever James was sitting or standing within the home,
he could just reach over and get a gun. The
guns were always loaded and the safety catch was disabled.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
In November nineteen two, James was laid off from his
welding job, causing him to become despondent over his dire
financial situation and his inability to provide for his family.
A former coworker recalled that James had made a comment
after he was notified that the company was closed, hence
the layoff, that if he was unable to provide for

(09:21):
his family, he was going to commit suicide and take
everyone with him. Shortly after his unemployment at NESTED, James
began hearing voices. In early nineteen eighty three, he put
a loaded pistol against his temple and threatened to commit suicide.
Etna was successful at getting James to put the gun down,
but he later told her he should have let me

(09:43):
shoot myself.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
James had trouble finding lasting employment in Ohio, so they
sold their apartment building for one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.
In the spring of nineteen eighty three, James was able
to find welding employment for five weeks before the plant
closed down. As if things couldn't get any worse for
James in his mental condition of James and one of
his daughters were injured in a car accident. James noted

(10:06):
an aggravation in his neck, pains that he had endured
since he was a child. It was also noted that
on occasion he would have increasing nerve tremor in his
hands and armed. During the summer of nineteen eighty three,
James applied for resident in Mexico for him and his family.
He believed the money from the cell the department would
last longer if they moved to Mexico. They sold their

(10:29):
home for twelve thousand dollars cash, with the buyer assuming
their mortgage of forty eight thousand dollars. The family moved
to Tijuana, Mexico in October of nineteen eighty three. They
put most of their belongings in storage, but of course,
he took his large collections of guns, ammunition, and survival supplies.
At the end of the children became friends with the neighbors,
but James was having a hard time as he spoke

(10:51):
very little Spanish. James was unable to find employment and
regretted his decision to move to Mexico, so within three months,
the family moved to Sanya's dar Bro, a largely poor
district of San Diego just north of the Mexico United
States border. The population in nineteen eighty four was just
thirteen thousand.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
In a new location, the family rented an apartment while
James looked for work. While searching the newspaper, James saw
an advertisement for security guard training in a federally funded program.
He finished the course on April twelfth and obtained employment
with the security firm guarding a condominium complex. They had

(11:32):
their furniture ship from Ohio and moved to a two
bedroom apartment where the rent was four hundred and fifty
dollars a month. On July tenth, James was dismissed from
his job. His employers told him the reason for the
dismissal was his poor work performance and a noted general
physical instability.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
Now that we are failing with James and his situation
and problem that his family, let's get back to the
sad and terrored filled day at McDonald's.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Remember it was July eighteenth, approximately three fifty six pm,
when James drove into the McDonald's parking lot. In his possession,
he had a wire array of weapons. He came equipped
with a nine milimeter Browning hpiece semi automatic pistol, a
nine milimeter Uzzi carbine, a win chest to twelve hundred
twelve gauge pump action shotgun, a box, and a cloth

(12:24):
bag filled with hundreds of rounds of AMMO for each weapon.
There were a total of forty five customers inside the restaurant.
That is a lot of customers inside of McDonald's. Now
is when you need to pay attention and keep a
tally of James's moves and the people he shot.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
Upon entering the restaurant, James first aimed his gun at
a sixteen year old employee named John Arnold from just
about fifteen feet away from him. The assistant manager saw
James aiming the gun at John insided, Hey, John, the
guy is going to shoot you. According to Arnold, when
James pulled the trigger, the gun jammed. Nothing happened. As
James was checking out the gun, the manager of the restaurant,

(13:03):
twenty two year old Neva Kane, walked towards a service
counter in the direction of John Arnold. John thought it
was a distasteful joke and began walking away from James.
James pointed the gun at the ceiling and fired, and
then aimed his UZI at Caine, shooting her beneath the
left eye. She died a few minutes later. After shooting Came,

(13:24):
James immediately fired a shotgun at John, hitting him in
the chest and arms. James daniell the comment that went
something like everybody on the ground. He then referred to
everyone in the Russian as dirty swine and Vietnam assholes,
and he claimed he killed a thousand and that he
intended to kill one thousand more. Upon seeing James shoot
John and Kane and hearing his profane rant, and tried

(13:47):
to persuade, James started screaming shut up, shut up, as
he shot Victor fourteen times, and Victor screamed in pain.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
The staff and customers tried to hide beneath the tables
and service boots. James he turned his attention towards six
women and children that will huddle together. First, he shot
nineteen year old Maria Kamonera Silva with a single shot
to the chest. Then he turned to nine year old
Claudia Perez by shooting her in the stomach, cheek, thigh, hip, leg, chest, back,

(14:23):
armpit and her head with his uzi. Then he went
to Perez's sister, Emelda, who was fifteen years old, and
shot her once in the hand using the same weapon.
He then fired at Aurora Penya with his shotgun. Penya
initially was wounded in her leg. Her pregnant aunt, eighteen
year old Jackie Raised, had shielded her. Listeners, brace yourself

(14:48):
for this now. James then shot raised the aunt forty eight, yes,
forty eight times with the UZI. Lying beside her was
her eight month old baby, Carlos Wreathe he set up
and wailed. James took no mercy on the infant. He
shouted at the baby and then killed him with a

(15:10):
single shot from the pistol to the center of his back.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
James is just getting started. James's next victim was sixty
two year old trucker named Lawrence versus Lewis, who he
shot and killed. Then he targeted a family seated near
the play area who were trying to shield their son
and his friend beneath the tables with their bodies lithe

(15:35):
Reagan Herrera, who was thirty one years old, shielded her
son Mateo beneath one booth, and her husband Ronald, protected
Matteo's friend, twelve year old Keith Thomas, beneath a booth
directly across from his wife and son. Ronald begged the
boy not to move, shielding him with his body. Thomas
was shot in the shoulder, arm, wrist, and left elbow,

(15:56):
but thankfully was not seriously wounded. Ronald was shot six
times in the stomach, chest, arm, hipped, shoulders and head,
but survived. Unfortunately, his wife and son did not survive.
They were both killed by numerous gunshots to the head.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
And still the shooting continues. Three women attempted to hide
beneath a booth. Twenty four year old Guadalupe del Rio
lay against the wall. She was being shielded by her friends,
twenty five year old Gloria Ramirez and thirty one year
old Aris delce Volvas Vargas. Del Rio survived being hit

(16:35):
several times, but was not seriously wounded. Ramirez was unhurt. Sadly,
Vargas took a single gunshot wound to the back of
the head. She died the next day from her wound.
She was the only person that was fatally wounded who
lived long enough to go to the hospital. In another booth,
James killed Hugo les Quez Basquez, a forty five year

(16:58):
old banker, with a single shot to his chest.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
The first of many calls came to emergency services shortly
after four pm. The calls were notifying the police of
a shooting of a child who had been taken to
the post office across the street. The dispatcher accidentally directed
responding officers to another McDonald's that was two miles away.
What a very unfortunate mistake. This mistake, although an accident

(17:24):
would cause the delay in the lockdown by several minutes,
the only warnings two civilians near the rest were given
by people who were passing by and saw what was
going on. Also, shortly after four PM, a young woman
named Lydia Flores drove into the parking lot. She was
pulling up to the pickup window when she noticed the
shattered windows and heard the sounds of gunfire. As she

(17:45):
looked up there he was just shooting. Lydia reversed her
car until she crashed into a fence. She took her
two year old daughter and they hid in some bushes
until the shooting ended.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Approximately at four or five pm. Asked Alphau and Maricela Felix,
a Mexican couple drove toward one of the service areas
of the restaurant. Estalfo saw the shattered glass but thought
maybe there was renovation work being performed. James was striding
towards the car, and Astolfo thought he was a repairman.

(18:16):
James opened fire on the couple and their four month
old daughter with his zuzzi and the shotgun. Marcella was
hit in the face, arms, and chests, blinding her one
eye and rendering her one hand unusable. The baby was
critically wounded in the neck, chest and abdomen. Estalfo was
wounded in the chest and head. As the couple staggered

(18:38):
away from James's line of fire, Marcella gave the baby
to her husband, who in turn handed the crying baby
to a young woman named Lucia Velasco. As Marcella clapsed
on the car against the car, Velasko rushed the baby
to a nearby hospital as her husband assisted Estalfo and
Marcella into a near by building. Fortunately, the three members

(19:02):
of the Felix family survived.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Not knowing that there was a mass shooting going on,
three eleven year old boys rode their BMX bikes into
the West parking lot. The boys hesitated when they heard
someone yell from across the street, but they didn't make
out what was said. James shot the boys with his
UZI and his shotgun. Joshua Coleman fell to the ground,
critically wounded in the back, arm and legs. Joshua called

(19:27):
later looking towards his friend Omar Alfonso and David Flores Delgado,
noting that Omar was on the ground with multiple gunshot
wounds to his back and he had started vomiting. His
other friend, David, received several gunshot wounds to his head.
Coleman is the only one of the three to have survived,
and the other two died at the scene. An elderly couple,

(19:48):
seventy four year old Miguel Victoria Ulola and sixty nine
year old Ida Velasquez Victoria, walking towards the answers when
James noticed them. Miguel reached to the open door for
his wife, and James fired his shotgun, hitting her in
the face, killing her and wounding Miguel. A survivor who

(20:09):
was uninjured, Oscar Mondragon reported later that Miguel cradled his
wife in his arms and wiped the blood off her face.
Miguel was shouting curses at James, who approached the doorway,
swore Miguel and shot him in the head, killing him.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Approximately ten minutes after the first call had been placed
to the emergency services, police arrived at the correct McDonald's.
The first officer to arrive at the scene was Miguel Rosario.
He rapidly determined the location and cause of the disturbance
and relayed this information to the San Diego Police Department.
James fired at Rosario's patrol car. Officers were sent immediately

(20:47):
and imposed a lockdown on the area, spanning for six
blocks from the shooting site. A command post was set
up two blocks from the restaurant, and one hundred and
seventy five officers were deployed placed in numerous strategic locations.
Within the hour, several SWAT team members joined the officers

(21:07):
and took position around the restaurant. Since the restaurant's windows
had been chattered by gun fire, there were reflections from
the shards of glass that made it more difficult for
the police trying to focus on the inside of the restaurant. Initially,
the police were concerned that there might be more than
one gunman and that they might be holding hostages and

(21:27):
shooting any individual he encountered. At five or five PM,
all the responding law enforcement personnel were authorized to kill
the shooter or shooters should they obtain a clear shot.
An individual who had escaped from the restaurant informed the
police that there was a single gunman in the restaurant.
He wasn't holding any hostages, and he was shooting any

(21:51):
individual he encountered.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Several of the survivors later reported that they saw James
walk towards the service counter, scrolling through radio stations. He
was looking for news reports on the shooting, but he
finally selected a music station. As he danced to the music,
he continued shooting people. James searched the kitchen area, where
he discovered six employees, and he shouted, Oh, there's more.
You're trying to hide from me, you bastards.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
One of the female employees yelled in Spanish, don't kill me,
don't kill me. James opened fired on them, killing twenty
one year old Paulinea Lopez, nineteen year old Elsa Borbero Fierro,
and eighteen year old Marguerita Padilla. He critically wounded seventeen
year old Albert Leos. Before James started shooting, Padilla grabbed

(22:36):
the hand of her friend and collie, seventeen year old
Wendy Flanagan, before the two started to run. James fatally
shot Padilla. Flanagan, plus four other employees, a female customer
and her infant hid inside a basement utility room. They
were joined later by Leos, who had crawled to the
utili room after being shot five times. James shooting on

(23:00):
anything that moved, including a fire truck that drove within range.
He repeatedly pierced the fire truck with bullets and slightly
wounded the one occupant.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
A wounded teenager, nineteen year old Jose Perez, was moaning
when James heard his moans, and he shot him in
the head, killing him. Jose slump beside the booth. He
had been seated with his friend and neighbor, twenty two
year old Gloria Gonzalez, and a young woman named Michelle
Carncross remember or Penna, who laid beside her dead aunt,
infinite cousin and two friends well. She was still alive

(23:33):
when she heard the lullan shooting. She opened her eyes
and saw James staring in her direction. He uttered a
curse word, threw bag of French fries at her, and
picked up his shotgun and shot her in the arm,
neck and jaw. Aurora survived, although she remained hospitalized longer
than any other victim.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
At five seventeen PM, James walked from the service counter
towards the doorway close to the drive through window. This
move gave twenty seven year old Charles Foster, a police
sniper who was deployed to a strategic position on the
roof of the post office directly opposite the restaurant, a
chance to take out James. Through his telescopic sight on

(24:11):
his three away caliber rifle, Charles had an unobstructive view
of James's body from the neck down. Charles fired a
single shot from a range of about thirty five yards.
The bullet hit James, entering through his chest seven his
day order, just beneath his heart, and exited through his spine.

(24:32):
The bullet left a one square in j exit wound
and sent James sprawling backwards onto the floor directly in
front of the service counter. The shot killed him almost instantly.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Immediately after shooting James, Charles relayed to the other officers
that had responded that he had killed the perpetrator and
that his focus remained on the motionless suspect. There were
so many rounds that had been fired from different guns
police were not completely certain that the sole perpetrator was dead.
About one minute later, the police sergeant entered the restaurant

(25:03):
and focused his gun on James. He noticed movement of
a wounded girl and asked her if the deceased male
was the shooter. The girl nodded her head.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
The entire incident lasted for seventy seven minutes, That is
a long time for a mass shooting to last. James
had fired a minimum of two hundred and fifty seven
rounds of ammunition. He killed twenty people and wounded as
many others. One who was pronounced brain dead upon arrival

(25:33):
at the hospital died the next day. Seventeen of the
victims were killed inside the restaurant and four in the
immediate vicinity. Only ten individuals inside the restaurant were uninjured.
Six of them had hidden inside the basement utility room.
Several victims had tried to stop their own bleeding ind

(25:53):
or the wounds of their companions from bleeding with napkins,
but their efforts were in vain.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
Of the people who were killed, thirteen died from gunshot
wounds to the head, seven from gunshot wounds to the chest,
and one victim, the eight month old baby, died from
a gunshot wound in his back. The victims ranged from
ages four months to seventy four years. The victims were predominantly,
although not exclusively of Mexican or Mexican American ancestry, which

(26:21):
reflected the local demographics.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
James shouted accusations or insults prior to shooting several of
the victims. On one occasion, James shouted that he himself
did not deserve to live and that he was taking
care of the situation. James repeatedly shouted throughout the shooting
spree that he had been a veteran of the Vietnam War,

(26:44):
but in all actuality, he never even served in the
military branch.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Reports issued by the San Diego Police Department following the
massacre indicated that everyone who was injured or killed within
the restaurant had been shot by James in the minutes
after he first entered the restaurant. Survivors of the massacre
hotly disputed that and stated that James had shot both
wounded and unwounded people over forty minutes after he first

(27:09):
opened fire.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
The day following the massacre, reporters visited James's father in
Mount Eaton, Ohio, to gain further information about his son.
He discussed James's childhood and the family's religious background. Earl
Huberty pointed to a painting of a lost sheep by
the Jordan River and began to weep. He informed reporters,

(27:31):
yesterday was the worst day of my life. I feel
so sorry for those people.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
In the days following the massacre, McDonald's suspended all television
radio advertisements in an active solidarity. Burger King, and archrival
of McDonald's, also suspended all forms of advertising temporarily.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
James was cremated on July twenty third, nineteen eighty four.
There was no official religious service observed throughout this act.
His ashes were returned to his widow and laid delayed
to rest in his home state of Ohio.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
In the weeks following the massacre, James's wife and children
had to temporarily stay with family friends because of death
threats they were receiving. All three attended counseling sessions over
the next nine months.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
James's wife and daughters initially relocated to Chula Vista, where
the children went to school under assumed names. One year later,
they moved to Spring Valley in San Diego in San
Diego County.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
Because of the number of victims, local funeral homes had
to use the Civic center to hold wakes for each victim.
The local church, Mount Carmel Church, was forced to hold
back to back funeral masses in order that each deceased
person could be buried in a timely.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Mis Several of the police officers who responded to the
scene suffered symptoms including sleep withdrawal, loss of memory, and
guilt in the months following. A studied commission by the
National Institute of Mental Health and conducted by the Chief
Psychler collegists of the San Diego Police Department in nineteen

(29:03):
eighty five concluded several officers suffered from post traumatic stress
disorder as a result of the incident.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Following the massacre, the police department increased training for special
units and they purchased more powerful firearms to better equip
law enforcement officers who respond to the scenes of scenarios
of this magnitude.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
San Diego Police Chief William Callander held a press conference
on August tecod he disclosed the results of the San
Diego Police Department's inquiry into their response to the massacre
and the fact that seventy three minutes had passed from
the time the first officer had arrived on the scene
in James's death. The results revealed that although the arrival

(29:44):
of the spot team was delayed by rush hour traffic.
The police acted appropriately in the method of response. Callanders
stated that any suggestions that the police should have stormed
the building was ludicrous, adding that the officers had been
unable to obtain a clear view of the gunman because
the windows had been spider wet by bullet holes, thus

(30:05):
making visibility in direct sunlight difficult. Colander emphasized that the
eight minute delay between the passing of the instruction authorizing
all law and enforcement personnel to kill James and his
death made no difference in the death toll from that day.
He finished his reports stating I believed the operation was

(30:27):
handled the way it should have been handled. When question
in regards to what the actual motive behind James's murder spree,
Calender dimissed any notion of a racial motive behind the massacre,
informing reporters he didn't like anybody.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
The restaurant was refurbished and renovated within two days of
the massacre. The plan was for the restaurant to reopen
for business, but following discussion between community, the Universe, and
McDonald's executives, a decision was reached on July twenty fourth
that it would not reopen. On September twenty sixth, at midnight,
the restaurant was demolished.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
McDonald's donated the location to the restaurant on the grounds
that no restaurant would be built on that site. In
February of nineteen eighty eight, the land was sold to
a college for one hundred and thirty six thousand dollars.
McDonald's announced its commitment to donate one million to a
survivor's fund. The widow of McDonald's founder Joan Kroc added

(31:23):
a personal contribution of one hundred thousand to insist in
the burial costs, financial aid for the relatives of the deceased,
in counseling for survivors. The total sum of donations received
would exceed one point four million, amiss protests from some
residents and donors at New Uberty received the first payout

(31:44):
from this fund.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Several ten numbers of those killed, along with the survivors
of the massacre, filed a lawsuit against McDonald's and the
San Diego Police Department. Their suits were heard in the
San Diego Supreme Court. All the lawsuits were consolidated and
later dismissed. Before trial on a day defense motion for
summary judgment. The plaintiff appealed the ruling, and the California
Court of Appeal on July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty seven,

(32:09):
affirmed the ceremony judgments for the defendant's ruled that McDonald's
or any other business had no duty to care to
protect patrons from the unforeseeable assault of a murderous madman,
and the implemented security measures usually used by restaurants, such
as guards or closed circuit television cameras, would not have
deterred James, as he did not care for his own survival.

(32:30):
The final lawsuits were dismissed in August of nineteen ninety one.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Etna Uberty filed the lawsuit in July of nineteen ninety
one against both McDonald's and her husband's longtime former employee,
Babcock and Wilcox. The civil suit, seeking five million in damages,
asserted that her husband's killing spree had been triggered by
the combination of a poor diet and her husband's working

(32:55):
around highly poisonous medals without adequate protection.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Over the years. Since there were no traces of alcohol
or drugs in his system, as determined by the autopsy,
his actions were not influenced by either factor. The alleged
apcrewals of high levels of lead and cadinium discovered in
James's body at his autopsy had more than likely accumulated
by an ongoing exposure to the fumes that he inhaled
for the thirteen years that he had been employed as

(33:21):
a welder without a sufficient respiratory protection, plus the ingesting
of high levels of monosodium glutamate and his staple McDonald's
food he ate regularly and induced delusions of uncontrollable rage.
The lawsuit was dismissed in nineteen eighty seven, and Etna
died of breast cancer in two thousand and three.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
Survivor Albert Leo spent three months in the hospital undergoing
several surgeries to remove bullets, and then he spent two
years in therapy healing from those injuries. He became a
police officer and served in several police departments in the
South Bay region of San Diego County. Leos later joined
the San Diego Police Department and was made captain.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
Thirty years after the massacre. James's daughter, Zalia has finally
spoken out. She stated that it if she knew what
her father had planned, she would have killed him. She
was twelve at the time of the massacre, and she
stated that she is in complete opposition of her father.
And now she is a nurse and she helps others.
She still cannot shake the trauma that and has learned

(34:28):
to deal with it. She also stated that not adegoes
by that she doesn't think about it or relive it.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Thanks for tuning into Bloodstained Backstories, don't forget to follow
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(34:57):
next week as we uncover another chilling case. Until then,
stay safe and stay curious.