On this day, Oct. 16, in 1991, George Jo Hennard smashed his pickup into a cafeteria in central Texas and shot and killed 23 people before committing suicide.
It was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history until the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.
Hennard, 35, moved through the crowd at the Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, shooting people randomly. He wounded an additional 20 people.
Police shot Hennard several times before he committed suicide.
Suzanna Hupp, then 32, watched as her parents were murdered that day. Hupp had a handgun with her but left it in her car to comply with the law that forbid people from carrying concealed Þrearms.
She later became instrumental in passing a Texas law allowing residents with gun permits to carry concealed weapons.
-Scott McCabe
