Gian Ferri

Mass Murderer

Gian Luigi Ferri and the 1993 101 California Street Massacre

Background

Gian Luigi Ferri was a 55-year-old failed real-estate investor and businessman who carried out a mass shooting inside the 101 California Street office tower in San Francisco, California. The attack occurred on July 1, 1993, and became one of the deadliest workplace shootings in the history of the city. Ferri murdered eight people during the attack, wounded six others, and then died by suicide as police officers closed in on him. Ferri was born Gianluigi Ettore Ferri on December 29, 1937. By 1993, his business ventures had largely collapsed, and he was facing serious financial problems. He had become increasingly resentful toward attorneys, government agencies, former business associates, and others whom he blamed for his failures. Although he selected the offices of the law firm Pettit & Martin as the principal scene of his attack, investigators never established that any of the people he shot had personally caused his financial difficulties.

Connection to Pettit & Martin

Pettit & Martin occupied offices on several upper floors of the 48-story tower at 101 California Street. Ferri had contacted the firm in approximately 1981 regarding real-estate matters involving property outside California. The firm reportedly referred him to other legal counsel because it was unable to represent him in those matters. There was no significant continuing relationship between Ferri and the firm during the following 12 years. Despite this limited connection, Ferri apparently came to regard Pettit & Martin as one of several organizations responsible for his business and personal problems. His decision to attack the firm appears to have emerged from a broader hostility toward lawyers rather than a specific dispute with the employees and visitors who were present on July 1, 1993.

Preparation for the Attack

Ferri arrived at 101 California Street carrying three semiautomatic firearms: two Intratec TEC-DC9 pistols and a .45-caliber Norinco M1911-style handgun. He carried a large supply of ammunition, including hollow-point cartridges designed to expand after striking a target. The TEC-DC9 pistols were equipped with trigger-assistance devices that allowed them to be fired rapidly. He also brought a typed, four-page letter containing complaints against lawyers, government agencies, businesses, lobbyists, and numerous individuals. The document was written largely in capital letters and contained misspellings, grammatical errors, accusations, and statements reflecting an increasingly disorganized state of mind. Ferri claimed that lawyers had ruined him and made unusual allegations that he had been harmed or poisoned by monosodium glutamate. None of the people he ultimately shot appeared on the long list of individuals named in the letter. ...

Confirmed Victims: (8)

Allen J. Berk 52 yr old Male

101 California Street shooting