On 20 May 1992, 64-year-old Brian Schlaepfer murdered six members of his family on their

Paerata Paerata is a small settlement immediately to the north of Pukekohe, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 22 some south of the Manukau Harbour. Wesley College is located close to the northern edge of Paerata. The ...

farm, near Pukekohe,

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...

, New Zealand before he shot himself. The massacre was one of the most high-profile shootings in New Zealand's history.

Murders

Schlaepfer, who suffered from mild depression, quarreled with his wife in their bedroom before stabbing her to death with a knife. One of his sons went to investigate the noise of the fight and was shot. Schlaepfer then went to the barn where he shot his other son. The wife of one of his sons went from another house to search for the origin of the gunshots and was wounded by shots on the way to the house where the murders had taken place. She ran to her house and called the police on the emergency telephone number (111). Schlaepfer next shot and stabbed his grandson in his bed, then shot his son's wife in the kitchen while she was talking to the police. Schlaepfer then returned to the barn where he shot his son and waited for his other son to return from work. Schlaepfer shot and stabbed him when he arrived, then went to the bushes near the house and shot himself. Schlaepfer's granddaughter, who had hidden from him in a wardrobe, survived the shooting of her mother and continued speaking to police on the emergency line for three hours, describing what was happening at the scene until it was secured by police. Schlaepfer used a shotgun and a .22-calibre rifle during the shooting.

Gun control context

At the time of the event, gun owners were still regulated under the Arms Act 1983, which granted lifetime licences.

New Zealand legislation This article gives lists of New Zealand acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries ...

to amend the act in order to review licences every 10 years (a consequence of the 1990 Aramoana massacre) had not yet been enacted.

Thomas Thorp Sir Thomas Murray Thorp (1 December 1925 – 17 October 2018) was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist who served as a judge of the High Court of New Zealand. Professional career From 1963 to 1979, Thorp was the Crown Solicitor in Gisborne, New Zeal ...

considered the Schlaepfer murders in his comprehensive 1995 ''Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand'' for the

New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

. Thorp found that Schlaepfer had been issued with a class A firearms licence in 1984 and had no known history of mental illness or domestic violence according to police records.

References

External links

* - Podcast * - Auckland Libraries references to newspaper cuttings and books. {{coord, -37.167, 174.871, display=title 1992 murders in New Zealand 1992 in New Zealand 1990s mass shootings in New Zealand Deaths by firearm in New Zealand Familicides History of the Auckland Region Mass shootings in New Zealand Massacres in 1992 Massacres in New Zealand May 1992 crimes May 1992 events in New Zealand Mass shootings involving shotguns

Murders

Gun control context

See also

References

Further reading

External links