Attack type Murder Deaths 1 | Weapons Shotgun Non-fatal injuries 14 | |
 | ||
Location Monkseaton, North Tyneside, England, United Kingdom Date 30 April 1989 (1989-04-30) | ||
The Monkseaton shootings occurred on 30 April 1989 in Monkseaton, North Tyneside, England, when Robert Sartin killed one man and left 14 other people injured during a 20-minute shooting spree. It remains, along with the 1978 crimes of Barry Williams, 1987 Hungerford massacre, 1996 Dunblane massacre and the 2010 Cumbria shootings, one of the worst criminal atrocities involving firearms in British history.
Shooting
Sartin, a 22-year-old clerk, took his father's double-barrelled shotgun and began shooting at people in nearby gardens, houses, and passing cars. Witnesses described how Sartin fired indiscriminately at people. He then drove his car towards the seafront at Whitley Bay, followed by an unmarked police car, and was arrested by unarmed police officer Danny Herdman.
Sartin was charged with the murder of Kenneth Mackintosh in Windsor Road, Monkseaton, and 17 counts of attempted murder. In May 1996, he appeared at Durham Crown Court where he pleaded not guilty due to insanity and he was subsequently detained indefinitely at a secure mental unit.