1985 Springfield Mall shooting

On October 30, 1985, a mass shooting took place at the Springfield Mall, a shopping mall in Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Three people, including a toddler, were killed and seven others injured. The perpetrator, 25-year-old Sylvia Seegrist, was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.

Due to Seegrist’s history of mental illness and earlier diagnosis of schizophrenia, the shooting stimulated discussion about the state's authority to commit at-risk people into mental care facilities against their will.

Shootings

On October 30, 1985, Sylvia Seegrist entered the Springfield Mall twice. The first time, she shopped for Halloween items at a party store, then worked out at a fitness club.

Returning to the parking lot, Seegrist went to her vehicle, a Datsun B-210, dressed in green military fatigues and retrieved a hunting rifle she had bought a few days earlier. She fired at a man approximately 30 yards (27 m) from where she stood, and missed. The man saw the vehicle she arrived in, and flattened one of the Datsun's tires to prevent her escape. Seegrist then fired at a woman using a nearby ATM. She missed again.

Seegrist then shot and killed two-year-old Recife Cosmen, who was with his parents outside waiting to eat at a mall restaurant.

Once inside, Seegrist fired into some stores and ignored others. She shot 67-year-old (Ernest) Earl Trout, a gynecologist, in front of a store; Trout fell into a coma and died a month later. 64-year-old Augusto Ferrara was shot and killed as he walked out of a shoe store. Both Trout and Ferrara were found by their wives, who had been shopping separately. Several witnesses initially believed the shooting was an elaborate Halloween prank.