• 1846–73:
California genocide—non-Natives killed between 9,492 and 16,094 California Natives • 1856–57: The
Flores Daniel Gang. •
Juan Flores—hanged for
murder •
Pancho Daniel—
lynched by a citizen mob • 1871:
Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 • 1877:
San Francisco riot of 1877 • 1883:
Lexington murders • 1892:
John and Charles Ruggles–hanged for robbing a Wells Fargo stagecoach • 1899:
J. Ellis Rodley—convicted of
perjury; sentenced to 12 years in prison • 1905–08:
San Francisco graft trials •
Abe Ruef—the only person convicted as part of the graft trials; pleaded guilty to bribery and sentenced to 14 years in prison • 1910:
Los Angeles Times bombing • 1913:
Wheatland hop riot • 1917:
1917 Sacramento Governor's Mansion bombing • 1923:
Japanese mission school fire • 1927:
Murder of Marion Parker • 1937:
September 1937 Folsom escape attempt • 1940–41:
Sacramento Mad Killer • 1942:
Sleepy Lagoon murder • 1943:
Zoot Suit Riots • 1946:
Battle of Alcatraz • 1947–56:
Battle of Sunset Strip • 1947:
Black Dahlia murder • 1951:
Bloody Christmas (1951) • 1958:
Killing of Johnny Stompanato • 1965: •
1965 Highway 101 sniper attack •
Watts riots • 1966: •
Compton's Cafeteria riot •
Shooting of Leonard Deadwyler •
Murder of Cheri Jo Bates • 1966–67:
Sunset Strip curfew riots • 1967:
Murders of Theodore L. Newton Jr. and George F. Azrak • 1968–69:
Zodiac Killer murders five known victims • 1968: •
Shooting of William Leonard •
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy • 1969: •
Tate–LaBianca murders •
Killing of Meredith Hunter • 1970: •
Newhall incident •
Deaths of Guillermo Sanchez and Guillardo Sanchez •
Marin County Civic Center attacks • 1971–83:
Randy Kraft sentenced to death for 16 counts of murder; suspected of killing as many as 61 people • 1971:
1971 L.A. federal building bombing • 1972:
United California Bank burglary • 1973–74:
Zebra murders • 1973:
Assassination of Marcus Foster • 1974: •
Kidnapping of Patty Hearst •
Assassination of William Cann •
1974 Los Angeles International Airport bombing •
Murder of Arlis Perry •
Murder of Betty Van Patter • 1975: Assassination attempts of Gerald Ford
in Sacramento and
in San Francisco • 1976: •
California State University, Fullerton, massacre •
Gypsy Hill killings •
1976 Chowchilla kidnapping •
Andrew J. Hinshaw—indicted on charges of
bribery,
embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds while serving as
Orange County assessor. Convicted of bribery and sentenced to two concurrent 1‐to‐14 years terms in prison • 1977: •
Kidnapping of Colleen Stan •
Ventura Strangler •
Golden Dragon massacre •
Murder of Mary Quigley • 1977–78:
Hillside Strangler • 1978: •
Oxnard Klan Riot of 1978 •
Moscone–Milk assassinations • 1978–79:
Skid Row Stabber • 1979: •
Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego) •
White Night riots • 1980: •
Norco shootout •
Murder of Suzanne Bombardier •
Death of Susan Louise Jordan • 1981: •
Keddie murders •
Wonderland murders • 1984: •
Killing of Marvin Gaye •
Murder of Kirsten Costas •
San Ysidro McDonald's massacre •
Killing of Bibi Lee • 1985: •
Murder of Michele Avila • Murder of
Alex Odeh • 1986: •
Murder of Sherri Rasmussen •
1986 San Francisco fireworks disaster •
Murder of Cara Knott • 1986–88:
Bribery and Special Interest (BRISPEC) sting operation—led to the conviction and imprisonment of 12 public officials in the
California State Legislature. Elected officials convicted were: •
Paul Carpenter: sentenced to seven years for
conspiracy,
mail fraud and
obstruction of justice •
Frank Hill: sentenced to 46 months for
extortion,
money laundering and
conspiracy •
Joseph B. Montoya: served five years for extortion, money laundering, and
racketeering •
Pat Nolan: sentenced to 33 months for racketeering •
Alan Robbins: sentenced to five years for racketeering and
income tax evasion • 1987: Hijacking of
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 • 1988: •
Murder of Karen Toshima •
Sunnyvale ESL shooting •
Dan Montecalvo case •
Kidnapping of Amber Swartz-Garcia •
Disappearance of Michaela Garecht • 1989:
Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton) • 1991–2009:
Kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard • 1991: •
Beating of Rodney King •
Killing of Latasha Harlins •
1991 Sacramento hostage crisis • 1992: •
1992 Coachella shooting •
1992 Los Angeles riots •
Lindhurst High School shooting •
Killing of Donald Scott •
Murder of Stuart Tay • 1993: •
Harbor City serial shootings •
Columbia Park gang shooting •
101 California Street shooting •
Murder of Polly Klaas •
Murder of Lea Mek • 1994:
O. J. Simpson murder case • 1995: •
Murder of Kelly Jamerson •
1995 San Diego tank rampage •
Murder of Stephanie Kuhen •
Walter R. Tucker III—convicted on seven counts of
extortion and two counts of
tax evasion; sentenced to 27 months in prison • 1996: •
Han twins murder conspiracy •
Murder of Kristin Smart •
Murder of Elyse Pahler •
1996 San Diego State University shooting •
Lyle and Erik Menendez—sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering their parents • 1997–2005:
Black Widow Murders • 1997: •
Murder of Ennis Cosby •
North Hollywood shootout •
Murder of the Notorious B.I.G. •
Dunbar Armored robbery • 1997–98:
Rampart scandal • 1999: •
Costa Mesa school car attack •
Sacramento synagogue firebombings •
Murders of Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder •
Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting • 2000: •
2000 LAX bombing plot •
Murder of Michelle O'Keefe • 2001: •
2001 Isla Vista killings •
2001 Nevada County shootings •
2001 Jewish Defense League plot in California •
Santana High School shooting •
Stevenson Ranch shootout • 2002: •
2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting •
Murder of Gwen Araujo •
Murder of Laci Peterson • 2003: •
Murder of Lana Clarkson •
Shooting of Deandre Brunston •
Santa Monica Farmers Market crash •
Murder of Yetunde Price • 2004: •
2004 Jenner, California, double murder •
Murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks •
Albert T. Robles—convicted of 30 counts of bribery, money laundering, and depriving the electorate; sentenced to 10 years and ordered to pay $639,000 restitution • 2005:
Randall Harold Cunningham—pleaded guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud; sentenced to 100 months. Conditionally pardoned in 2021 • 2006: •
Goleta postal facility shootings •
Paul Richards—sentenced to 16 years in federal prison on bribery and kickback charges • 2007: •
2007 MacArthur Park rallies Incident •
Hawthorne High School gang violence •
Murder of Chauncey Bailey •
2007 De Anza College rape investigation • 2008: •
Murder of Larry King •
Ed Jew—found guilty of extortion, bribery, and perjury •
Murder of Jamiel Shaw II •
Murder of the Bologna family •
Murders of Jan Pietrzak and Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak •
SiPort shooting •
Covina massacre • 2009: •
Shooting of Oscar Grant •
Murder of Sandra Cantu •
2009 shootings of Oakland police officers •
2009 Richmond High School gang rape • 2010: •
Murder of Lydia Schatz •
Oakland freeway shootout •
Killing of Douglas Zerby • 2011: •
Murder of Jeff Hall •
Murder of Michelle Le •
Killing of Kelly Thomas •
South East High School Stabbing incident •
2011 Seal Beach shooting •
Southern California Edison shooting •
2011–12 Los Angeles arson attacks • 2012: •
Lei family murders •
2012 Oikos University shooting •
Murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu •
2012 Anaheim, California police shooting and protests •
Fresno meat plant shooting • 2013: •
Taft Union High School shooting •
Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt •
2013 shooting of Santa Cruz police officers •
Murders of Claudia Maupin and Oliver Northup •
Murder of Gabriel Fernandez •
2013 Santa Monica shootings •
Kidnapping of Hannah Anderson •
Killing of Andy Lopez •
2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting •
Shooting of Ricardo Diaz Zeferino •
Bob Filner—pleaded guilty to charges of
false imprisonment and
battery. • 2013–14:
Interstate 80 rapist • 2014–16:
San Francisco Police Department text message scandal • 2014: •
2014 Stockton bank robbery •
Killing of Ezell Ford •
Leland Yee—corruption and arms trafficking •
Killing of Alex Nieto •
2014 Isla Vista killings • 2015: •
2015 San Bernardino attack •
Killing of Meagan Hockaday •
Killing of Charley Leundeu Keunang •
Murder of Madyson Middleton •
Shooting of Kate Steinle •
Matthew Muller sentenced to 31 and 40 years in prison after pleading guilty and
no contest to charges of
kidnapping,
burglary,
forcible rape,
battery,
assault, and
false imprisonment. • 2016: •
Orange County Men's Central Jail escape •
2016 UCLA shooting •
Killing of Joseph Mann • 2017: •
2017 North Park Elementary School shooting •
2017 Fresno shootings •
San Francisco UPS shooting •
Rancho Tehama shootings • 2017-19:
Ed Buck—sentenced to 30 years in prison on 9 federal counts including providing fatal doses of methamphetamine to two men • 2018: •
Murder of Nia Wilson •
Murder of Blaze Bernstein •
Killing of Stephon Clark •
Hart family murders •
Yountville shooting •
Murder of Anthony Avalos •
Thousand Oaks shooting •
Tulare County shootings • 2019: •
Poway synagogue shooting •
Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting •
Orinda shooting •
2019 Saugus High School shooting •
2019 Fresno shooting •
Union City, California elementary school double murder •
Normandie Burgos—sentenced to 255 years in prison on 60 counts of child molestation, including forcible sodomy and lewd conduct upon minors • 2020–24:
San Francisco Department of Public Works corruption scandal • 2020: •
2020 boogaloo murders •
Killing of Sean Monterrosa •
Killing of Andres Guardado •
Murder of Patricia Alatorre •
Killing of Dijon Kizzee •
Aguanga shooting •
2020 shooting of Los Angeles police officers •
Anthony Levandowski—pleaded guilty to one count of trade secret theft. Pardoned in 2020. •
José Huizar—pleaded guilty to charges of
racketeering and
tax evasion; sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $443,905 in restitution to the
City of Los Angeles and $38,792 in restitution to the
Internal Revenue Service • 2021–22:
Stockton serial shootings • 2021: •
Killing of Vicha Ratanapakdee •
2021 Orange, California office shooting •
2021 San Jose shooting •
Mitchell Englander–sentenced to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $15,000 fine after pleading guilty to falsifying material facts during interviews with federal investigators who were conducting a
corruption probe at
Los Angeles City Council •
Torrance Police Department text message scandal • 2022: •
Murder of Brianna Kupfer •
2022 Sacramento shooting •
2022 Laguna Woods shooting •
2022 Brink's theft—$8.7–100 million worth of jewelry stolen from the back of a
Brink's truck parked at a
truck stop off I-5 near
Lebec. •
Killing of Rob Marquise Adams •
Killing of Savannah Graziano •
2022 Oakland school shooting •
Attack on Paul Pelosi •
Elizabeth Holmes—found guilty of three counts of wire fraud, and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud •
Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani—found guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud •
Michael Avenatti—sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $11 million in restitution for embezzlement and fraud • 2023: •
2023 Goshen shooting •
2023 Monterey Park shooting •
2023 Half Moon Bay shootings •
2023 Trabuco Canyon shooting •
Van Nuys High School stabbing •
Harry Sidhu—pleaded guilty to one count of
obstruction of justice, one count of
wire fraud, and two counts of making false statements to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
Federal Aviation Administration •
Michelle and Kenneth Mack—sentenced to five years in prison for
organized retail theft and
conspiracy to commit organized retail theft • 2024: •
Easter Sunday heist •
Alleged Assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Coachella •
2024 Santa Monica College shooting • Irma Olguin Jr. and Jake Soberal, co-founders and co-CEOs of
Bitwise Industries plead guilty to
wire fraud •
Jorge Armando Contreras—sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for
embezzlement •
Leonard Glenn Francis ("Fat Leonard")—sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery, fraud, and failure to appear in court • Ex-Congressman
TJ Cox pleaded guilty to two fraud counts and agreed to pay up to $3.5 million in restitution • 2025: •
David Misch—sentenced to two 25-years-to-life terms in prison for the 1986 murders of
Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey; following an earlier life sentence for the murder of
Margaret Ball. •
Ippei Mizuhara—sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $17 million in restitution to
Shohei Ohtani after pleading guilty to
bank fraud and
submitting a false tax return. •
Thomas Girardi—sentenced to 87 months in prison, fined $35,000 and ordered to pay restitution of $2.3 million for
wire fraud and
embezzlement •
Andrew Do—sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to
conspiracy to commit
bribery. •
2025 Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing •
Dan Serafini—found guilty of
murder,
attempted murder, and first-degree
burglary •
GirlsDoPorn • Michael James Pratt sentenced to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to
sex trafficking and
conspiracy to commit the same crime • Matthew Isaac Wolfe sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking • Ruben Andre Garcia sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking • Theodore Gyi sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking •
2025 Stockton shooting •
Killing of Rob and Michele Reiner == See also ==