Adrive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within amotor vehicle and then fleeing.[1] Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene beforelaw enforcement is able to respond. A drive-by shooting's prerequisites include access to a vehicle and a gun. The protection, anonymity, sense of power, and ease of escape provided by the getaway vehicle lead some perpetrators to feel safe expressing their hostility toward others.[2]
The invention of the drive-by shooting is attributed toNestor Makhno,[3][4][5][6][7][8] commander of theRevolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine at the beginning of the 20th century. He attached a machine gun to ahorse-drawn carriage, enabling his forces to quickly assault targets then flee before they could properly react. This vehicle, called thetachanka, would be used by multiple factions during theRussian Civil War.
Motor vehicles offer similar concealment for transport of weapons tocrime scenes in situations like the2015 San Bernardino attack, and can simultaneously serve asgetaway vehicles. Using a vehicle allows the shooter to approach the intended target without being noticed and then to speed away before anyone reacts. Besidesgang-related attacks, drive-by shootings may result fromroad rage or personal disputes between neighbors, acquaintances, or strangers unrelated to gang membership.[2]
There is no national data on the volume of drive-by shootings. Nationalstatistical databases such as theUniform Crime Reports record the shooting outcome rather than the method. Non-gang-related drive-by shootings are not well researched, but journalistic accounts and police reports suggest that these constitute a significant proportion of the drive-by shootings to which police respond. Drive-by shootings that occur as an extreme form ofroad rage appear to be rather unpredictable in terms of the times and locations, but often occur in reaction to seemingly trivial events, although the underlying motivation usually appears to be a series of unrelated stressors in the perpetrator's life. A drive-by shooting's prerequisites include access to a vehicle and a gun. Recent legislation has focused on transfer of guns rather than vehicles, so those who carry out drive-by shootings may use their own vehicle or one that has been borrowed, rented, or stolen.[2]
The primary motivations for a gang-involved drive-by include intimidation, terrorisation, and assassination of rival street gang members.[9] Such shootings are associated with gang violence in urban areas of the United States but also occur in other contexts. The tactic is also called simply a "drive-by".[10]
Motorcycle ride-by killings were a common form of murder used by drug lordGriselda Blanco during her years controlling the Miami cocaine trade routes in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[11] Blanco herself died by this method after having been shot twice in the head by a motorcyclist in a drive-by shooting inMedellín, Colombia.[12][13][14] Drive-by shootings are also included in theKu Klux Klan'smodus operandi.[15][16]
ChicagoProhibition-era gangster andNorth Side Gang bossBugs Moran was considered a "pioneer" of the drive-by shooting, with theTommy gun being the weapon of choice. The notoriously vicious gang performed multiple shootings against their rivals, including theSouth Side gang led byAl Capone and theGenna brothers. OtherIrish American gangs, such as theSaltis-McErlane Gang, theSheldon Gang, and theSouthside O'Donnell's, also executed drive-bys on one another in the Chicago area. Al Capone also had a Cadillac painted in Chicago police colors (police lights included) with armored rear windshield and a small hatch to fire machine guns with the car moving.[according to whom?]
During theSecond Philadelphia Mafia War, two warring factions fought for control of the family; one led by former alleged boss,John Stanfa; and the "Young Turks", led by futurePhiladelphia crime family bossJoey Merlino. On 5 August 1993, Merlino survived a drive-by shooting assassination attempt by two Stanfa gunmen, taking four bullets in the leg and buttocks, while his friend and associate Michael Ciancaglini was shot in the chest and killed.[17] On 31 August 1993, a drive by shooting was performed on Stanfa and his son while they were driving on theSchuylkill Expressway. Stanfa escaped uninjured and his son survived being shot in the jaw.[according to whom?]
In 1992, theMexican Mafia prison gang announced an edict prohibitingSureno gangs from committing drive-by shootings, in order to avoid police crackdowns throughout neighborhoods in southernCalifornia. Those who broke the edict were to be greenlighted for assault or even death in the California prison system.[18]
Numerouship hop artists have been targeted in drive-bys;[19] prominent rappers who were killed in such incidents includeTupac Shakur,[20]The Notorious B.I.G.,[21]Big L, andMac Dre.[22] Other rappers, such asObie Trice[23] and50 Cent have survived being assaulted in drive-by shootings.[according to whom?]
In 2015, Jorja Leap, an UCLA anthropologist studying gang culture, pointed out how drive-by shooting tactics are being replaced by the "walk-up shooting" method, because murders have become more targeted and while driving, there is low accuracy in aiming.[24]
InItaly, the circulation of firearms is low compared to that in the United States, and just over a million civilians own a firearm license,[25] so face-to-face shooting or threats with firearms are rare. Drive-by shootings, on the other hand, are common, especially in professional criminal contexts, as the statistical incidence says that almost all assaults with firearms are carried out from cars,motorcycles, orscooters.[citation needed] These kinds of vehicles are used since they provide better mobility in the narrow city districts. From the 1970s into the 21st century,Cosa Nostra and theCamorra have both been known to perform drive-by shootings during clan or mafia wars, or toassassinate targets. One notable example of such, isCarabiniere generalCarlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, who was killed with anAK-47 in a drive by shooting in September 1982 inPalermo.[26]
One of the most striking episodes of a drive-by shooting in Italy was theMacerata shooting, conducted against six Africans by a far-right extremist, Luca Traini, using anAlfa Romeo 147. However, the attack caused no deaths.[27]
In the first decade of the 21st century, drive-by shootings were also used for assassinations by militants inIraq,[28] including that ofWaldemar Milewicz[29] andHatem Kamil.[30]
Griselda Blanco, who remained under suspicion for the deaths of all three of her husbands
Rapper Tupac Shakur died yesterday from wounds suffered in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting, becoming a casualty of the kind of bullet-sprayed urban violence captured in his lyrics.
Gunmen have assassinated the deputy governor of Baghdad and wounded two of his bodyguards, Iraqi officials say
Gunmen in Iraq have killed a leading Polish journalist and his picture editor in a drive-by shooting
Media related toDrive-by shootings at Wikimedia Commons
