List of amok cases in Australia

Amok syndrome is an aggressive dissociative behavioral pattern derived from Malaya and led to the English phrase, "running amok." The word derives from the Malay word amuk, traditionally meaning "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects, usually by a single individual, following a period of brooding, which has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior". The syndrome of "Amok" is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV TR) but it is important to make note that there is new information regarding the syndrome due to the DSM-V and the improvements or changes that have been made. The main change regarding the condition is that Amok syndrome is no longer considered a culture-bound syndrome in the DSM-V, the main reason being that the category of culture-bound syndrome has been removed.

In 1849, Amok was officially classified as a psychiatric condition based on numerous reports and case studies that showed the majority of individuals who committed amok were, in some sense, mentally ill. "Running amok," is used to refer to the behavior of someone who, in the grip of strong emotion, obtains a weapon, which is usually a gun, and begins attacking people usually ending in the murdering of an innumerable amount of people. For about twenty years, this type of behavior has been described as a culture-bound syndrome. According to the DSM-V, the culture-bound syndrome category has been removed, meaning that this particular condition would no longer be categorized as such. Culture-bound syndromes are seen as those conditions that only occur in certain societies whereas standard psychiatric diagnoses are not seen that way regardless if there is some sort of cultural limitation.

This list contains Australian amok cases with at least three casualties (not including the perpetrator). It does not include familicides, gang-related crimes, or incidents with fewer than three casualties. In all cases the perpetrator is not counted among those killed or injured. Religious, political, or racial crimes are covered in another section.

All abbreviations used in the tables are explained below.

Amok cases

Perpetrator	Date	Year	Location	State	Killed	Injured	W	Additional notes	Ref.
Bryant, Martin John, 28	28/29 April	1996	Port Arthur	Tasmania	35	23	FMA	Sentenced to 35 concurrent life terms plus 1,035 years
Vitkovic, Frank, 22	8 December	1987	Melbourne	Victoria	8	5	F	Committed suicide
Knight, Julian, 19	9 August	1987	Clifton Hill	Victoria	7	19	F	Sentenced to life imprisonment
Frankum, Wade John, 33	17 August	1991	Strathfield	New South Wales	7	6	FM	Committed suicide
Gargasoulas, James, 26	20 January	2017	Melbourne	Victoria	6	27	V	Sentenced to life imprisonment
Majka, Marian Ryszard, 35	18 February	1957	Cannon Hill	Queensland	6	1	FMA	Committed suicide
Hoffmann, Benjamin Glenn, 45	4 June	2019	Darwin	Northern Territory	4	1	F	Arrested
List, Norman Alfred, 30	23 January	1924	Melbourne	Victoria	4	1	F	Committed suicide
Corbo, Donato Anthony, 39	29 April	2011	Hectorville	South Australia	3	3	F	Found not guilty by reason of insanity
Xiang, Huan Yun, 36	21 October	2002	Clayton	Victoria	2	5	F	Found not guilty by reason of insanity
Wilson, William Robert, 36	22 September	1976	Spring Hill	Queensland	2	4	F	Sentenced to life imprisonment
Hall, Harry, 45	1 October	1929	Palmyra	Western Australia	2	4	F	Committed suicide
"Butcher"	1 June	1934	Arnhem Land	Northern Territory	2	2	F	Fled
Noori, Saeed, 32	21 December	2017	Melbourne	Victoria	1	17	V	Sentenced to life imprisonment
Ghunta Prod Guce	29 June	1907	Richmond	Queensland	1	5	F	Arrested
Koorman Toomayeff	22 March	1921	Riverton	South Australia	1	4	F	Arrested
Batson, Claude, 22	11 February	1924	near Albury	New South Wales	1	3	F	Committed to psychiatric hospital
Ferguson, Thomas	11 August	1925	Bacchus Marsh	Victoria	1	2	F	Arrested
Lee Sing	1 June	1919	Sydney	New South Wales	0	17	F	Shot dead
Fildes, Ashley, 34	1 May	2020	South Hedland	Western Australia	0	7	M	Killed by police
Unknown man	26 May	1946	Redfern	New South Wales	0	7	M	Fled
Harker, Gordon	30 October	1938	Frankston	Victoria	0	4	F	Fled
Unnamed boy, 13	19 June	1991	Coffs Harbour	New South Wales	0	3	F	Arrested

Religious, political and racial amok cases

Perpetrator	Date	Year	Location	State	Killed	Injured	W	Additional notes	Ref.
Unnamed boys, 15 and 16	6–7 April	2017	Queanbeyan	New South Wales	1	3	M	16-year-old sentenced to 35 years in prison 15-year-old sentenced to 18 years in prison
Shire Ali, Hassan Khalif, 30	9 November	2018	Melbourne	Victoria	1	2	MA	Killed by police

Abbreviations and footnotes

W – A basic description of the weapons used in the attacks

F – Firearms and other ranged weapons, especially rifles and handguns, but also bows and crossbows, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, or slingshots

M – Melee weapons, like knives, swords, spears, machetes, axes, clubs, rods, stones, or bare hands

V – indicates that a vehicle was the only other weapon used

E – indicates that explosives of any sort were the only other weapon used

A – indicates that an arson attack was the only other weapon used

References

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