Expand Wikipedia "List of assassinations by firearm" for known models?

[MatthewVanitas]

Some years ago I created this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinations_by_firearm

The intent was, for those of us with a wonky technical interest, to list the specific models of firearms used in famous assassinations. Oswald's 6.5 Carcano, Guiteau's .44 British Bulldog, and the like.

I think I've covered some of the main bases, but I'm open to any suggestions from folks as to famous high-level assassinations where at least some details of the weapon are positively known and importantly are *documented* in reliable sources like books and reputable news/journal articles. I'm avoiding really vague things like "handgun", but willing to include ones where we only generally know, such as Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme's killing in 1991 with a ".357 revolver" (shooter and weapon were never discovered). Palme is slightly vexing because presumably Swedish police know what manufacturer it was made by due to rifling style, but it doesn't appear in the history accessible to the public.

I'm particularly interested in rifle assassinations since they're so rare, with JFK, MLK, Carlos I of Portugal (Winchester 1907), and Serbian PM Zoran Đinđić (H&K G3). So I'd like to include those rare cases if any come to mind.

If anyone is familiar with a *high level* assassination (trying to avoid things like mayors or minor celebrities unless the event had a larger social significance), and the implement of choice is something documented by reputable sources, please let me know here in the thread and I'd be happy to add it to the list!

 

[Kano383]

1976, Lagos, Nigeria. Murtala Mohammed, President. FN FAL. Attempted military coup. Plotters subsequently captured and executed by firing squad.

Some Internet sources mention AK 47, but these sources are from recollections decades after the fact, written by journalists not conversant with the subject, and at the time the main service firearm in the Nigerian Army was the FN FAL.


1987, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Thomas Sankara, President. AK 47. Military coup led by his deputy, Blaise Compaoré, who became President.


1981, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Laurent Kabila, President. Pistol. Attempted coup. Assassin shot and killed at the scene, co-conspirators executed or jailed.

 

[kcofohio]

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israel.
1995
Beretta 94
Shooter, Yigal Amir

President Anwar Sadat, Egypt. (11 others)
1981
AK-47
Multiple attackers

Sorry Matthew, I should have looked at your link 1st.

 

[Middletown]

Not to nit pick but the link to MLK assassination is to the Remington 7600 and not to the 760 that was used according to the Wikipedia article.

Good Job!

 

[Browning]

I read a book about these guys awhile back. Assassinations committed by 17N Greek terrorist group.



This particular firearm has been used (either alone or together with other firearms) in the following terrorist acts:

• Assassination of Richard Welch (CIA).
• Assassination of the police officers P. Petrou and S. Stamoulis on January 16th, 1980 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Assassination of publisher N. Momferatos and his driver P. Roussetis on February 21st, 1985 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Assassination of businessman A. Athanasiadis-Mpodosakis on March 1st, 1988.
  
• Assassination of the member of the Greek parliament P. Mpakogiannis on September 26th, 1989 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Shooting the member of the Greek parliament E. Papadimitriou, on December 21st 1993 (the M-1911 was used together with Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver).
• Assassination of the British Military Attache, Brigadier S. Saunders On June 8th, 2000.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rwelch.htm

https://www.m1911.org//17november.htm

 

[Hasaf]

Mahatma Gandhi
30 January 1948
Beretta M 1934 Semi-automatic pistol
Killed by Nathuram Godse
Sources from this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahatma_Gandhi


Sorry, I now see that you already have it listed.

 

[Nickotym]

not sure I can agree with Bin Laden being an assassination. Usually they refer to people who we DON"T want to die.

 

[amd6547]

"...Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israel.
1995
Beretta 94
Shooter, Yigal Amir..."

Amir used a Beretta 84 380.

 

[Hasaf]

This time I have one not on your list:
Lee Harvey Oswald, killed by Jack Ruby on 24 November 1963 using a .38-caliber Colt Cobra.

Source:
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/10/19/Bullets-from-Jack-Rubys-gun-to-be-sold/1453719467200/

From Wikipedias Jack Ruby entry:

1. FBI Notes of Conference btwn. Ruby and FBI Hall & Clements in Dallas Jail, December 21, 1963, Warren Commission Document 1252, p. 9.
2. Jump up^ House Select Committee on Assassinations – Hearings, volume 5, p. 179.
3. Jump up^ Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 350. ISBN 1-56924-739-0

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Not to nit pick but the link to MLK assassination is to the Remington 7600 and not to the 760 that was used according to the Wikipedia article.

I tracked down the problem, there was a "Redirect" sending 760 views to 7600, but I have corrected it.

not sure I can agree with Bin Laden being an assassination. Usually they refer to people who we DON"T want to die.

It was not I who added OBL, but I don't necessarily oppose the inclusion because an encyclopedia should have no "we" but rather be objective. I checked the OBL page and is has him categorized under "assassinated Al Qaeda leaders" and "assassinations in Pakistan" so I didn't object when someone else added him. Whether or not he was "assassinated" has nothing to do with whether he's a "good guy" or "bad guy", it's a technical issue. He was killed not on the battlefield and not through a judicial process, and was individually targeted, so I can see the argument. To put it another way, if it turned out that Oswald had been working directly under Soviet command, would we then say he *didn't* "assassinate" JFK because he was supported by a legal nation? So I can see both sides of it but for the sake of neutrality I'm okay leaving OBL on the list.


I kind of want to include Ruby killing Oswald, but on similar grounds I'm not sure if that technically counts as an "assassination" or just a murder, and Wikipedia doesn't appear to file Ruby as an assassin.


The 17 November list raises some great points, thanks for that. The list is fuzzy on the cutoff of how "famous" someone needs to be to count as assassinated vice murdered, but a Parliamentarian should be an easy win. I just need to track down sources verifying that the 1911 was the tool used.

Thanks for the ideas so far, and certainly open to further ideas, or corrections of errors in the list.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

I read a book about these guys awhile back. Assassinations committed by 17N Greek terrorist group.

View attachment 782774

This particular firearm has been used (either alone or together with other firearms) in the following terrorist acts:

• Assassination of Richard Welch (CIA).
• Assassination of the police officers P. Petrou and S. Stamoulis on January 16th, 1980 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Assassination of publisher N. Momferatos and his driver P. Roussetis on February 21st, 1985 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Assassination of businessman A. Athanasiadis-Mpodosakis on March 1st, 1988.
  
• Assassination of the member of the Greek parliament P. Mpakogiannis on September 26th, 1989 (two .45 ACP pistols were used).
  
• Shooting the member of the Greek parliament E. Papadimitriou, on December 21st 1993 (the M-1911 was used together with Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver).
• Assassination of the British Military Attache, Brigadier S. Saunders On June 8th, 2000.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rwelch.htm

https://www.m1911.org//17november.htm

While I think you are quite correct, it'll take me some digging to find sources without applying too much of what Wikipedia calls "Original Research". That is, finding enough corroborating reports that 17N used an M1911 .45 ACP pistol for the attacks. Just with an initial look at GoogleBooks that does appear to be the case, but because a lot of the historians involved don't know jack about guns I have to filter out reports about a "45mm pistol", etc.

I'm pretty sure I can make a cogent case if I can cross-reference reports that the standard 17N weapon was a "Colt 45" with reports about it being an "automatic pistol" and whatnot to get to the point that I can safely say for a given attack that it was a 1911 and not, say, a .45 Colt revolver or something. It's just a matter of getting strong enough sources that I'm not leaping to conclusions.

As another poster pointed out, it's a similar issue with non-gun writers saying "AK-47" when they're referring to any other military auto rifle. It ends up being a Hippocratic-like "first do no harm" where I just really don't want to put Wikipedia on-the-record of saying 1911 unless sources can be found that make it pretty clear. It's not at all that I doubt it's the case, just a matter of burden-of-proof and minimizing possible mis-identification.

Staying principled about this is slightly annoying because there are a few assassinations where I can find online photos of the weapon, but don't want to mis-identify some Euro revolver, even though in one particular case I myself have literally taken photos of the assassination weapons at a museum. But that's what being principled gets you...

 

[Browning]

While I think you are quite correct, it'll take me some digging to find sources without applying too much of what Wikipedia calls "Original Research". That is, finding enough corroborating reports that 17N used an M1911 .45 ACP pistol for the attacks. Just with an initial look at GoogleBooks that does appear to be the case, but because a lot of the historians involved don't know jack about guns I have to filter out reports about a "45mm pistol", etc.

I'm pretty sure I can make a cogent case if I can cross-reference reports that the standard 17N weapon was a "Colt 45" with reports about it being an "automatic pistol" and whatnot to get to the point that I can safely say for a given attack that it was a 1911 and not, say, a .45 Colt revolver or something. It's just a matter of getting strong enough sources that I'm not leaping to conclusions.

As another poster pointed out, it's a similar issue with non-gun writers saying "AK-47" when they're referring to any other military auto rifle. It ends up being a Hippocratic-like "first do no harm" where I just really don't want to put Wikipedia on-the-record of saying 1911 unless sources can be found that make it pretty clear. It's not at all that I doubt it's the case, just a matter of burden-of-proof and minimizing possible mis-identification.

Staying principled about this is slightly annoying because there are a few assassinations where I can find online photos of the weapon, but don't want to mis-identify some Euro revolver, even though in one particular case I myself have literally taken photos of the assassination weapons at a museum. But that's what being principled gets you...

http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/press/november17terrorists.htm

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ebbcb6e4b0fe1b7deab31a/t/53ee8963e4b0b3544268df25/1408141667783/Shaking+the+Casket+(Revolutionary+Organization+17+November+and+the+Art+of+Radical+Anachronism)+-+Zander+B.+Abranowicz.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/2007112...himerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=18445

Chronology of all November 17 attacks

23/12/75: CIA station chief Richard Welch is murdered in Psychico. [murdered with the Colt 1911 at close range]

December 1976, N17 murdered the former intelligence Chief of the Greek security police, Evangelos Mallios and left its proclamation at the scene. [Colt 1911]

16/1/80: Riot squad (MAT) deputy director Pantelis Petrou and his driver Sotiris Stamoulis are killed in Pangrati. [murdered with 1911]

15/11/83: US Navy Captain George Tsantes, chief of JUSMAGG, and his driver Nikos Veloutsos are murdered in Psychico. [murdered with a 1911]

3/4/84 : JUSMAGG officer
Robert Chant survives an attack at Hellenikon. [1911]

21/2/85 : publisher of Apogevmatini newspaper Nikos Momferatos is killed in central Kolonaki, along with his driver Panayiotis Roussetis. [shot]

8/4/86: Industrialist Dimitris Angelopoulos is killed in Kolonaki. [shot]

4/2/87 : Zachiarias Kapsalakis is injured in an attack at Halandri. [shot]

21/1/88: November 17 members attempt to kill US official George Karos in Filothei.

1/3/88: Industrialist Alexandros Athanasiadis-Bodosakis is murdered in Filothei. [shot, unknown caliber]

10/1/89 : Public prosecutor Constantine Androulidakis is injured in the legs. He dies a month later. [shot, unknown what caliber]

18/1/89 : Public prosecutor Panayiotis Tarasouleas is injured in Maroussi. [shot, unknown caliber]

26/9/89 : Parliamentary deputy Pavlos Bakoyiannis is murdered in Kolonaki. [shot, two .45's]

7/10/91 : The Turkish Embassy’s assistant press attaché Cetin Giorku, is murdered. [shot, unknown caliber]

21/12/92 : November 17 members injure New Democracy party deputy Eleftherios Papadimitriou, using a .38 and .45 revolvers. [the term 'revolvers' was used when one was a revolver and one a pistol]

24/1/94:Michalis Vranopoulos, former governor of National Bank of Greece, is killed in Kolonaki. His driver, Nikos Grispos, is injured. [same guns, two .45's]

4/7/94:Turkish diplomat Omer Sipahioglou is murdered. [same guns, two .45's]

28/5/97:Shipowner Costas Peratikos is murdered in Piraeus. [same guns, two .45's]

8/6/2000:British defense attach Brigadier Stephen Saunders is murdered on Kifissias Avenue in Athens. [same guns, two .45's. The same pistols that they carried out most of their shooting attacks with]

Article on last assassination.

https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,503437,00.html

••••••

More on N17

https://www.dawn.com/news/46744

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/greece-finally-sees-success-against-terror-group

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81903&page=1

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/no...ruggle-revolutionary-struggle-greece-leftists

http://www.signalfire.org/2011/05/04/chronology-of-armed-struggle-in-greece-1975-2005/

As to how important someone has to be to make the grade I imagine that a diplomatic assassination, an assassination of a governmental or former governmental official or an assassination of a powerful CEO of a major company would make the grade, but an ordinary riot policeman (the media sources I've found have never listed their identities) would not.

For instance when the German Red Army Faction started concentrating their attacks on leading German business, banking and economic CEO's in the late 80's and 1990's their names are always mentioned in the Wikipedia articles.

 

[TRX]

The history books all say Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated with a .32 Browning. A few years ago someone got permission to examine it, (it has been in private hands for most of a century) and they found that it wasn't the common .32 ACP, but the much rarer .380 ACP.

Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated with an Iver Johnson Cadet revolver using .22 Long (not Long Rifle) cartridges.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Very interesting.

 

[wojownik]

Various assassinations with Makarov pistols.

22 Jan 1969 - attempt on Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet premier) by Victor Ilyin. Driver killed. Moscow (outside the Kremlin's Borovitskaya Tower). Two Makarov PM pistols.
4 December 1980 - Sultan Ibraimovich Ibraimov - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic. Makarov PM.
Nov 2000 - Carlos Cardoso, reporter, Mozambique. Makarov pistol and an AK-47. Ordered by the eldest son of President Joaquim Chissano
11 Oct 2001 - Assistant US Attorney Tom Wales. Seattle. Makarov pistol.
29 April 2002 - Valery Ivanov, Russian anti-corruption journalist. Togliatti, Russia. Makarov pistol.
9 July 2004 - Paul Klebnikov, U.S. journalist. Moscow, Russia. Makarov pistol.
7 Oct 2006 - Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist, Putin critic and human rights activist. Moscow. Makarov pistol.
March 2009 - Chechen Special Forces Commander Sulim Yamadayev, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gold-plated Makarov pistol.
20 Mar 2012 - German Gorbuntsov, Russian banker, Putin opponent. London. Makarov PM pistol (modified, with silencer).
27 Feb 2015 - Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician - Putin opponent. Moscow. Makarov PM pistol.
May 2015 - IRA commander Gerard “Jock” Davison. Ireland. Makarov PM pistol.
1 June 2017 - Adam Osmayev, Putin and Kadyrov opponent, and Amina Okueva. Kiev Ukraine. Glock 9mm.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

@wojownik

Some really useful Makarov ones there; I'm finding good sourcing for some of these, just need to figure out the best-sourced and ones which most indisputably pass the bar of "assassination" vice murder.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

I've added a few of these, and working on others, so this has been helpful.

I ran across an interesting puzzle, which I don't necessarily think we'll figure out the answer to here, so I'm just leaving it as "automatic rifle" on the chart.

In 1969, Somali president Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was killed by one of his bodyguards with an "automatic rifle". I can't find any source that says more specifically than that so I don't want to guess for the chart, but just out of interest I tried to guesstimate for myself. This was prior to Somalia aligning with the Communists, so I don't think it's so likely that it'd be an AK47 or an SKS. To one degree I was thinking it might be a FAL since part of Somalia was a British colony prior to independence. But then I ran across an unrelated mention that around independence the Italians provided a number of Beretta BM59s to the Somali military, which is basically an M1 Garand retrofitted to take a magazine. So barring Small Arms Review or someone credible documenting the specifics, I don't expect to know for sure, but currently I'm imagining BM59 is most likely.