1991 University of Iowa shooting

1991 mass shooting in Iowa City, Iowa, US December 2025 January 2025 1991 University of Iowa shooting Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. 41.6622 -91.5324 type:event_region:US-IA inline,title November 1, 1991 3:42 – 3:52 p.m. CST Spree shooting, school shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide, mass shooting 6 (including the perpetrator) 1 Gang Lu * Taurus .38-caliber revolver Jennings J-22 .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol (unused) The University of Iowa shooting was a mass shooting that occurred in Iowa City, Iowa, on November 1, 1991. Gang Lu, a 28-year-old former graduate student at the University of Iowa, killed three members of the Physics and Astronomy Department faculty, an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and a fellow student, then seriously injured another student working at the university's campus, before committing suicide. It is the deadliest school shooting in Iowa history. Shooting On Friday, November 1, 1991, Gang Lu attended a meeting for the theoretical space plasma physics research group in Room 309 on the third floor of Van Allen Hall on the university's campus. A few minutes after the meeting began, Lu shot three attendees of the meeting with a .38 Special revolver, then proceeded to the second floor to shoot the chairman of the department in his office. Lu then returned to the third floor and shot the three initial victims again, which killed Robert A. Smith, who had only been wounded by the first round of bullets.Kilen Mike Nov. 1, 1991: The day a university campus shooting rampage shocked Iowa https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/11/01/gang-lu-shooting-university-iowa-campus-iowa-city-guns-handgun-jessup-hall-van-allen-jessup-hall/1847462002/ https://archive.today/20251019145856/https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/11/01/gang-lu-shooting-university-iowa-campus-iowa-city-guns-handgun-jessup-hall-van-allen-jessup-hall/1847462002/ October 19, 2025 2025-10-19 The Des Moines Register en-US Those who were shot in Van Allen Hall were: Christoph K. Goertz, professor of physics and astronomy,Gurnett, Don Joyce, Glenn Obituary: Christoph K. Goertz Physics Today October 1992 45 10 136–137 http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v45/i10/p136_s2?bypassSSO=1 10.1063/1.2809851 free October 5, 2013 October 3, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131005020401/http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v45/i10/p136_s2?bypassSSO=1 dead Lu's dissertation chairman and one of America's leading theoretical space plasma physicists Robert A. Smith, associate professor of physics and astronomy, also on Lu's dissertation committee Linhua Shan (s 山林华 山林華 Shān Línhuá), a post-doctoral research investigator and the winner of the Spriestersbach prize; Shan had once been Lu's roommate Dwight R. Nicholson, chairman of the physics and astronomy department,Dubois, Donald Knorr, George Payne, Gerald Obituary: Dwight Nicholson Physics Today October 1992 45 10 136 http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v45/i10/p136_s1?bypassSSO=1 10.1063/1.2809850 free subscription October 5, 2013 October 3, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131005010105/http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v45/i10/p136_s1?bypassSSO=1 dead and one of Lu's dissertation committee members After the shootings at Van Allen Hall, Lu walked three blocks to Jessup Hall located in the University of Iowa's Pentacrest. Upon entering the building, Lu made his way to the second floor and entered Room 208, the office of T. Anne Cleary, where he shot her in the head. At the time of the shooting, Cleary was the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, as well as a university grievance officer. Lu had recently filed several grievances about his dissertation not being nominated for the prestigious Spriestersbach prize. Cleary subsequently died the following day at the University of Iowa Hospital. Lu then shot Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, a 23-year-old temporary student employee in the Office of Academic Affairs in Jessup Hall, for unknown reasons. Rodolfo-Sioson survived, but was left paralyzed from the neck down and died years later from inflammatory breast cancer on December 3, 2008.Shpiner, Ruthanne. "Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, 1968–2008", The Berkeley Daily Planet, 10 December 2008. Retrieved on 26 August 2012. Lu had intended to kill university president Hunter Rawlings III, but he was attending the Iowa/Ohio State football game in Columbus, Ohio, at the time. Gang Lu was found in room 203 of Jessup Hall with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Lu died shortly after police arrived. He discharged a total of 16 bullets during the mass killing, including the suicide shot.Ergenbright Charles E. Hubbard Sean K. Defeating the Active Shooter: Applying Facility Upgrades in Order to Mitigate the Effects of Active Shooters in High Occupancy Facilities https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA562724.pdf live https://web.archive.org/web/20250202075341/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA562724.pdf 2025-02-02 2025-10-19 apps.dtic.mil Perpetrator thumb|150px|right|Gang Lu Gang Lu (卢刚 Lú Gāng; July 30, 1963 – November 1, 1991),Mann Jim June 7, 1992 The Physics of Revenge https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-07-tm-411-story.html https://archive.today/20230830012707/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-07-tm-411-story.html August 30, 2023 April 2, 2015 Los Angeles Times was a 28-year-old Chinese graduate student at the University of Iowa who had received his doctoral degree in physics and astronomy from the university in May 1991.http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=145328 Study of the "critical ionization velocity" effect by particle-in-cell simulation 1992 University of Iowa phd Lu Gang When he was 18 years old, Lu began studying physics at Peking University in Beijing, where he passed the CUSPEA exam in 1984 and was admitted to study in the United States, becoming a graduate student at the University of Iowa. As a graduate student, Lu was primarily a loner who was perceived by at least one other graduate student to have a psychological problem if challenged and was reported to have had abusive tantrums.Marriott Michel https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/04/us/iowa-gunman-was-torn-by-academic-challenge.html?ref=michelmarriott New York Times Iowa Gunman Was Torn by Academic Challenge November 4, 1991https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-11-03-9104080982-story.html Chicago Tribune A Deep Resentment Boils Over November 3, 1991 Lu was infuriated because his dissertation, titled Study of the "Critical Ionization Velocity" Effect by Particle-in-Cell Simulation, did not receive the prestigious D. C. Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize, which included a monetary award of $2,500. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 led many Chinese students to become eager to stay in the United States, and Lu believed that winning the prize would have made it easier for him to get a job and not have to return to China. Normally, Lu would have received a postdoctoral researcher position, but there was not enough money to support him.Kilen Mike http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2016/10/28/nov-1-1991-day-university-shooting-rampage-shocked-iowa/92053548/ Des Moines Register Nov. 1, 1991: The day a university shooting rampage shocked Iowa November 1, 2016 In the months prior to the shooting, Lu was still living in Iowa City and had written five letters explaining the reasons for his planned mass shooting. According to university officials, four of the five letters were written in English, and one was written in Chinese. All five letters were intended to be mailed to news organizations and have never been released to the public. However, Edwin Chen's book Deadly Scholarship includes a statement by Lu intended to be read after his attack and suicide, which Laura HamlettAugust 2024 characterized as a manifesto; and, in translation, a letter by Lu to his sister. Media adaptations Writer Jo Ann Beard wrote an acclaimed personal essay based in part on the killings. Her essay, entitled "The Fourth State of Matter", was originally published in The New Yorker in June 1996. It appeared in the 1997 edition of Best American Essays. The essay was later included in her collection of personal essays, The Boys of My Youth. Beard worked as an editor for a physics journal at the university and was a colleague of the victims. She had been close friends with Goertz. Loosely based on Gang Lu's story, Chinese director Chen Shi-zheng made a feature film, Dark Matter, starring Liu Ye and Meryl Streep. However, the story in Dark Matter has substantial differences in plot and character motivation. The film won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.Overbye, "A Tale of Power and Intrigue in the Lab, Based on Real Life." The educational series Discovering Psychology, "Cultural Psychology" (episode 26, updated edition) discusses Gang Lu (at the 3:50 minute mark).http://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsychology/26/e26expand.html Discovering Psychology -- Program 26: Cultural Psychology April 10, 2016 A documentary about the life of the lone survivor, Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, entitled Miya of the Quiet Strength, was released in 2009.http://miyafilm.com/Welcome.html Miya of the Quiet Strength August 26, 2012 See also 1990s Iowa China List of school shootings in the United States by death toll References Further reading Chen Edwin 1995 Deadly Scholarship: The True Story of Lu Gang and Mass Murder in America's Heartland Birch Lane Press 978-1559722414 registration https://archive.org/details/deadlyscholarshi0000chen Beard Jo Ann 1997 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/06/24/the-fourth-state-of-matter The Fourth State of Matter The New Yorker 13 December 2015 Eckhardt Megan L. November 1, 2001 http://www.uwire.com/content/topnews110101001.html 10 years later, U. Iowa remembers fatal day The Daily Iowan 26 August 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20070422044050/http://www.uwire.com/content/topnews110101001.html 2007-04-22 Efrati Amir November 1, 2002 http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2002/11/01/Metro/Recalling.A.Snowy.Blustery.November.Day-312815.shtml Recalling a snowy, blustery November day The Daily Iowan 2007-04-01 May 9, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070509165238/http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2002/11/01/Metro/Recalling.A.Snowy.Blustery.November.Day-312815.shtml dead Grabbe Crockett November 2, 1999 http://www.sealane.org/writing/uimurds.html dead A Tree of Legacies: The UI Murders 5 Years Later https://web.archive.org/web/20160305140838/http://www.sealane.org/writings/uimurds.html 2016-03-05 2006-07-25 Marriott Michel November 3, 1991 https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE0DB1538F930A35752C1A967958260 Gunman in Iowa Wrote of Plans In Five Letters The New York Times 26 August 2012 Marriott Michel November 4, 1991 https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE5DB1538F937A35752C1A967958260 Iowa Gunman Was Torn by Academic Challenge The New York Times 26 August 2012 Overbye Dennis Dennis Overbye March 27, 2007 https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/science/27dark.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=60699d2d8b90a79f&ex=1175227200&pagewanted=all A Tale of Power and Intrigue in the Lab, Based on Real Life The New York Times 26 August 2012 Category:Mass shootings involving revolvers Category:1991 in Iowa Category:1991 mass shootings in the United States Category:1991 murders in the United States Category:Deaths by firearm in Iowa Category:1991 mass murders Category:Mass shootings in Iowa Category:Attacks on schools in 1991 Category:Murder–suicides in Iowa Category:November 1991 crimes in the United States Category:School shootings in Iowa Category:Suicides by firearm in Iowa Category:University and college shootings in the United States Category:University and college killings in the United States Category:1990s mass murders in the United States Category:Mass shootings involving semi-automatic pistols in the United States Category:Mass shootings in schools