James Oliver Huberty was born on October 11, 1942, in Canton, Ohio, into a devout United Methodist household. Contracting polio at age three, he walked with braces and developed a lifelong limp. He was a serious, gun-obsessed child who enjoyed target practice and tinkering with weapons. After graduating high school, he briefly attended Malone College and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, obtaining embalming credentials in 1964.

Huberty married Etna Markland in 1965. He held jobs as an embalmer, welder, and security guard. The family lived in Ohio before relocating to Tijuana, then San Ysidro, California. Huberty was staunchly survivalist and paranoid—amassing firearms, supplies, and expressing fears of societal collapse. He also displayed domestic violence at home, adding to his mental strain.
Leading up to July 1984, Huberty was unstable and jobless. He sought mental health help on July 17, 1984, but his appointment was misfiled, delaying intervention.

On July 18, 1984, at approximately 3:56 p.m., James Oliver Huberty pulled into the San Ysidro McDonald’s parking lot in a black Mercury Marquis. Inside, he carried a deadly arsenal: a 9 mm Browning HP pistol, a 9 mm Uzi carbine, a Winchester 1200 12-gauge shotgun, and two containers filled with hundreds of rounds.

Huberty entered the restaurant and immediately trained his shotgun on 16-year-old employee John Arnold from about fifteen feet away. Arnold froze. Assistant manager Guillermo Flores yelled out a warning: “Hey, John, that's going to shoot you!” Huberty attempted to fire but the gun misfired. As he inspected it, manager Neva Caine approached. Huberty fired his Uzi at her beneath the left eye—she died minutes later.

He then aimed his shotgun at Arnold, wounding him in the chest and arm, before commanding everyone to “get down.” He spewed obscenities—calling them “dirty swine, Vietnam assholes”—and coldly declared, “I killed a thousand… gonna kill a thousand more.” A customer, Victor Rivera, pleaded with him to stop; Huberty shot him fourteen times and shouted “shut up” as Rivera fell.

Huberty methodically targeted families and children. He killed 19-year‑old María Colmenero‑Silva with one shot to the chest, then unloaded his Uzi into 9-year‑old Claudia Pérez with shots to her stomach, cheek, thigh, hip, leg, chest, back, armpit, and head. He wounded her sister Imelda and shot 11‑year‑old Aurora Peña, who had been shielding herself beneath a table.

Next, he approached the Reyes family by the play area. He shot their pregnant 18‑year‑old aunt Jackie Reyes 48 times, then fatally shot her 8‑month‑old baby, Carlos, with a single pistol shot to the back while the child lay beside his dead mother.

Huberty continued his rampage:
Killed 62-year-old trucker Laurence Versluis
Shot the Herrera family: Ronald Herrera shielded a boy and survived despite six wounds; his wife Blythe and son Matao (11) were killed
Inside, he killed banker Hugo Velázquez Vasquez and others hiding beneath booths.

He fired indiscriminately, even at a fire truck in the lot. He hunted wounded victims—shooting 19-year-old José Pérez in the head over his cries—and continued the violence over nearly 77 minutes, firing at least 257 rounds.

As SWAT surrounded the building, Huberty stepped toward the service counter and fiddled with a radio before shouting in Spanish, “Oh, there’s more. You’re trying to hide from me, you bastards!” He opened fire again, killing several employees, including Paulina López, Elsa Borboa-Fierro, and Margarita Padilla. Some survivors hid in a basement utility room, including wounded employee Albert Leos.

Finally, at 5:17 p.m., police sniper Charles Foster, positioned on a rooftop across the street, fired a single .308-caliber shot that passed through Huberty’s chest, severing his aorta. Huberty collapsed instantly—ending the terrifying onslaught.