page_title: San Ysidro McDonald's massacre
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: San Ysidro McDonald's massacre / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: A memorial of the fatalities that occured on July 18, 1984
context_page_description: The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was an act of mass murder which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 21 people and wounded 19 others before being killed by a police sniper approximately 77 minutes after he had first opened fire.
  At the time, the massacre was the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history, being surpassed seven years later by the Luby's shooting.
context_section_description: The day after the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre, reporters visited James Huberty's father in Mount Eaton, Ohio, to garner further information about his son. Having discussed his son's childhood and the family's religious background, Earl Huberty pointed to a painting of a lost sheep by the Jordan River before beginning to weep, informing reporters: "Yesterday was the worst day of my life. I feel so sorry for those people."
  McDonald's temporarily suspended all television and radio advertisements in the days following the massacre. In an act of solidarity, arch-rival fast food chain Burger King also temporarily suspended all forms of advertising.
  Huberty's body was cremated on July 23, 1984. No official religious service was observed throughout this act. His ashes were returned to his widow, and later interred in his home state of Ohio.
  In the weeks following the massacre, Huberty's wife and daughters received numerous death threats, forcing them to temporarily reside with a family friend. All three would attend counseling sessions for over nine months.
  Etna Huberty and her daughters initially relocated from San Ysidro to Chula Vista, where Zelia and Cassandra enrolled in school under assumed names. One year later, the family moved to the town of Spring Valley.
  Because of the sheer number of victims, local funeral homes had to use the San Ysidro Civic Center to hold wakes for each victim. The local parish, Mount Carmel Church, were forced to back-to-back funeral masses in order that each of the dead could be buried in a timely manner.
  Several police officers who responded to the scene of the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre suffered symptoms including sleep withdrawal, loss of memory and guilt in the months following the incident. A study commissioned by the National Institute of Mental Health and conducted by the chief psychologist of the San Diego Police Department in 1985 concluded several officers suffered posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident.
  The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre prompted the city of San Diego to assess the tactical methods by which they responded to incidents of this nature and the firearms in the possession of responding officers. The police department increased training for special units and purchased more powerful firearms in order to better equip law enforcement to respond to scenarios of this magnitude. According to one officer, who confessed to having felt "inadequate" because he had been equipped with a .38 caliber revolver on the day of the massacre: "The time had come where you had to have a full-time, committed and dedicated, highly trained, well-equipped team ... able to respond rapidly, anywhere in the city."
  On August 2, San Diego Police Chief William Kolendar held a press conference to disclose the results of the San Diego Police Department's inquiry into their response to the massacre, and the fact an estimated 73 minutes had elapsed between the time the first police officer had arrived at the restaurant and Huberty's death. The results of this internal inquiry found that although the arrival of SWAT team members was delayed by rush-hour traffic, the police acted appropriately in their method of response.
  Kolendar stated any suggestion police should have stormed the restaurant was "ludicrous", adding that officers had been unable to obtain a clear view of the gunman because windows had been "spider-webbed" by bullet holes, making visibility in direct sunlight difficult. Kolendar finished his report by stating: "I believe the operation was handled the way it should have been handled."
  When questioned in regards to the actual motive behind Huberty's murder spree, Kolendar dismissed any notion of a racial motive behind the massacre, informing reporters: "He didn't like anybody."
  Within two days of the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre, the restaurant had been refurbished and renovated. The restaurant planned to again open for business in the hope that—as one employee commented—the building would become "just another McDonald's." Following discussions between community leader
caption: Plaque at the victims' memorial, inscribed with the names of the 21 dead
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