Emile Pierre Benoist: Hackettstown–Mansfield mass murders, August 26, 1977
Overview
On August 26, 1977, 20-year-old Emile (Emil) Pierre Benoist carried out a two-hour ambush shooting along a railroad right-of-way straddling Hackettstown and neighboring Mansfield Township in Warren County, New Jersey. Armed with a .44-caliber semi-automatic rifle fitted with a telescopic sight, he shot people he encountered on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles, killing six before taking his own life as police closed in. Contemporary reports identified him as a former U.S. Marine and the son of a former Hackettstown councilman.
The rampage
Witness accounts and police briefings from the night and following day describe Benoist lying in wait along a seldom-used spur line, stepping from cover to fire on passersby, then moving south from Hackettstown into Mansfield Township. He fired at a passing motorist and a responding police car without injuring occupants, concealed some bodies near an abandoned tannery—apparently to avoid early detection—and attempted to use a victim’s motorcycle to chase others before fleeing on foot into cornfields. He died by suicide as officers approached.
Weapon and method
Multiple outlets reported that Benoist used a .44-caliber Ruger-type semi-automatic rifle with a scope, selecting targets at random from ambush positions along the tracks.
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Account
