Incident Summary:
11/18/1978: Leo Ryan, a California Democrat, was shot while trying to leave Jonestown with a group of unhappy sect members. Ryan had initially gone to Guyana to investigate abuses of members of the “Peoples’ Temple,” founded by Reverend Jim Jones. After being threatened with a knife by one of the members, Ryan decided to cut his visit short. As he was boarding an aircraft to leave, reports claim that between 8 and 12 members of the cult were responsible for firing approximately 50 shots. The shots killed three American investigators traveling with Jones, as well as an 18-year-old American woman who was trying to leave. Larry John Leyton, a man posing as a defector, was the only person charged in America for involvement in the murder. Jones organized the murder of Ryan and members of his party in order to keep them from revealing the true conditions at Jonestown.
Overview
GTD ID:
197811180002
When:
1978-11-18
Country:
Guyana
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Barima-Waini
City:
Port Kaitmu
Location Details:
The shooting took place at an airstrip at Port Kaituma, eight miles south of the settlement, and 150 miles northwest of Georgetown. It was located near the Venezuelan border.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Representative of California |
Specific Description |
Leo Ryan |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Rifle/Shotgun (non-automatic) |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
Larry John Leyton , the only person charged in America for the murder of Ryan, was told to pose as a fleeing Peoples Temple member, and to kill other defectors so an ambush squad could murder Ryan and his associates. Founder of Jonestown and the Peoples' Temple, and organizer of the conspiracy, Jim Jones, was said to have shot himself and thus could not be held accountable for the death of the congressmen, his associates, or the 912 sect members he poisoned. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
People's Temple |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
8 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
9 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
5 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
5 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
5 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
9 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
The Associated Press and Reuter News Agency. “400 Bodies Are Found After Guyana Killings,” The Globe and Mail, November 20, 1978 |
Egelko, Bob. “ Lawyer: Layton a Scapegoat, Not Conspirator,” The Associated Press, November 19, 1986 |
MacLean, Pamela A. United Press International, November 20, 1986 |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties