Episode 66 – Originally Released November 2018
Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about mass shooting. Additional content warnings are contained within the episode. Listener discretion is advised.
On the morning of September 6, 1949, 28 year old East Camden resident Howard Unruh shot 16 people in 15 minutes, killing 13 and severely injuring 3 others. The police in Camden were ill equipped to deal with a mass murder of this scale because this was one of the first crimes of this nature in America.
Howard was a WWII veteran, a quiet young man who studied pharmacology at Temple University. He split his time between Philadelphia and Camden, where he believed he was harassed by his neighbors. One day his paranoid perceptions took over, pushing Howard to commit wage war on his own neighborhood. In this episode we talk about Howard, his victims, the survivors, especially one man in particular who was only 12 years old when he lived through Howard’s killing spree.
TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show.
Primary research sources for this episode include:
- Camden Courier Post/Evening Courier Archives
- Philadelphia Inquirer Archives
- Philadelphia Daily News Archives
- Delaware County Daily Times Archives
- Smithsonian.com
- Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers by Katherine Ramsland
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS