On April 28, 2000, Garry Dewane Lee, a 22-year-old Black male from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, was tragically killed. He was engaged in his workout routine with a friend at the C.S. Kim School of Karate in Center Township when he was fatally shot. His death was not an isolated incident but the final act in a horrific, racially motivated shooting spree that spread terror across two counties.
The individual responsible for this wave of violence was identified as Richard Scott
Baumhammers, a 31-year-old white man. On that spring afternoon, Baumhammers embarked on a violent rampage, specifically targeting individuals of different ethnicities. Before arriving at the karate studio, he had already claimed the lives of four other innocent people and left another seriously injured. Witnesses at the shopping plaza where the karate school was located were able to provide law enforcement with Baumhammers' license plate number, which proved crucial in his swift apprehension.
Following the shooting at the karate studio, Baumhammers was spotted by police and arrested at the end of the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. Inside his vehicle, authorities discovered a gun, ammunition, and Molotov cocktails, indicating that his violent spree may not have been over. During the subsequent investigation, a gunpowder test revealed that his hands were covered in residue. He remained silent upon his arrest.
Richard Baumhammers was put on trial for the murders. In 2001, a jury found him guilty, and he was subsequently sentenced to death for his heinous crimes. Despite the conviction and death sentence, the legal process has involved numerous appeals. An execution warrant was signed in early 2010, but a stay of execution was granted shortly thereafter as the appeal process continued. Family members of Garry Dewane Lee have expressed their frustration over the prolonged legal proceedings, emphasizing the pain of their loss and their desire for justice to be fully realized.
