The Aramoana Massacre

The Backroom

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On the night of November 13, 1990, the small seaside town of Aramoana, New Zealand would be shaken to its core. After an argument over a dog on his property, David Gray shot and killed his neighbor, Garry Holden. Gray then shot at Holden's daughters, killing two. Gray set fire to the Holden house with the bodies of the two girls inside. He then shot at a family who stopped to help, killing four, including two six year old boys. His rampage continued through the night. By the next morning, he had barricaded himself inside a house. He ate and soon fell asleep. He had killed 13 people, including four children and a police officer. Almost 24 hours after his rampage began, Gray was found and a shootout ensued. Once out of ammunition, Gray came out and taunted police, telling them to kill him. He was shot five times but survived. He eventually died on his way to the hospital. This was New Zealand's largest mass murder in history until 2019. The events in Aramoana sparked swift changes to New Zealand's firearms legislation, which tightened the purchases of military grade semi-automatic firearms in 1992.