On the afternoon of July 18, 1984, James Huberty left his apartment in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, and drove one block over to the nearby McDonalds. After walking through the door of the restaurant, Huberty raised his Uzi semi-automatic 9mm and began indiscriminately shooting at patrons, employees, and anyone else who happened to cross into his line of sight.

At the time, and for decades after, the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre was the worst mass shooting in American history, with the shooter killing twenty-one people and injuring nearly two dozen others before being struck down by a sniper’s bullet. The incident lasted over an hour, during which time San Diego police and SWAT members surrounded the building, but didn’t enter the building until an hour after the shooting started, when Huberty was already dead.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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References

Ben-Ali, Russell. 1990. "After a long wait, monument is dedicated at Massacre site." Los Angeles Times, December 14.

Corwin, Miles, and Tom Howlett. 1984. "Neighbors reall a man who never smiled." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 14.

Crea, Jackie. 2025. Survivors remember San Ysidro McDonald's mass shooting. July 18. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-ysidro-mcdonalds-mass-shooting-40-years-later/3569489/.

Cummings, Judith. 1984. "Neighbors term mass slayer a quiet but hotheaded loner." New York Times, July 20: 1.

Freed, David. 1984. "21 die in San Diego massacre." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 1.

Logan, Alan C., Jeffrey J. Nicholson, Stephen J. Schoenthaler, and Susan L. Prescott. 2024. "Neurolaw: Revisiting Huberty v. McDonald’s through the Lens of Nutritional Criminology and Food Crime." Laws.

2016. 77 Minutes. Directed by Charlie Minn.

New York Times. 1984. "Coast man kills 20 in rampage at a restaurant." New York Times, July 19: 1.

Time-Life Books. 1993. Mass Murderers. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books.

Weintraub, Daniel. 1984. "'That guy's gonna shoot you'." Los Angeles Times, July 20: 2.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

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The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre

Morbid

The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre