One of the most notorious mass murderers in the United States, George Banks, has died in a prison in Phoenix, Pennsylvania, 43 years after the murders, the Associated Press reported, citing the state Department of Corrections.
According to the Montgomery County medical examiner, Banks, 83, died Sunday afternoon from complications caused by a neoplasm of the kidneys, or kidney cancer.
Banks had been in prison since 1982 after opening fire on 14 people, killing 13 of them, including himself children during a deadly shooting spree in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. At the time, it was considered one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, and he was convicted of 12 counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder.
Banks had been drinking at a party late into the night before using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to go on a shooting spree, first in his home, wearing a green military uniform. Five of the victims were his own children, ages 1 to 6. Four more were the mothers of his children. The remaining victims were bystanders, including an 11-year-old who sometimes stayed with his family, another 7-year-old, and a teenager who saw and recognized Banks as he left his house armed with the semi-automatic rifle.