The 1985 Springfield Mall Shooting

Sylvia Seegrist was born in 1960 in Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania. As a teenager, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent years cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals while her behavior grew increasingly erratic and violent. Despite repeated warnings from her mother that she was dangerous, she was frequently released after short stays. In 1985, she legally purchased a Ruger .22 caliber rifle after denying any history of mental illness on federal paperwork.

On October 30, 1985, after being denied medication at a pharmacy in the Springfield Mall, Seegrist returned with the rifle and began firing randomly at shoppers. Three people were killed, including two-year-old Recife Cosman, and seven others were injured. She was subdued by a bystander and arrested.

In 1986, a jury found her guilty but mentally ill, and she was sentenced to three consecutive life terms. She remains incarcerated in Pennsylvania.

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