Westernville New Year's Day shooting

The Westernville New Year's Day shooting was a mass murder that occurred at a family gathering in Westernville, New York, United States on New Year's Day in 1969. Ralph MacLachlan (aged 35 or 37), a meat cutter and church elder, armed with a semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle, killed four people, including his wife, and injured five others. The next morning, MacLachlan committed suicide by shooting himself following an exchange of gunfire with police. Following the shooting, MacLachlan's brother stated that he had "no indication he was acting abnormally" during a phone conversation around an hour before the shooting. At the time, according to his brother, MacLauchlan was watching a New Year's Day bowl game on the television.

Victims
Four people were shot and killed, and a further five were injured. The fatalities include:
 * Anita Turke MacLachlan, 33, the perpetrator's wife
 * Jane Turke Ringrose, 35, the perpetrator's sister-in-law
 * Barbara Jean Ringrose, 12, the perpetrator's niece
 * Milton James Pepper, 14, the family's neighbor

Additionally, the shooter injured his father-in-law, mother-in-law, 10-year-old niece, brother-in-law, and another neighbor. MacLachlan and Anita's two-year-old and nine-month-old sons were unharmed after Anita hid them in a bedroom closet.