In 1897, a posse led by the Sheriff of Luzerne County in Pennsylvania engaged and murdered unarmed striking anthracite miners in the Lattimer Massacre. 300-400 miners, mostly German and Slavic immigrants, marched to Lattimer in support of a new Union. The Sheriff and about 150 armed deputies met them. A scuffle began, and the deputies opened fire. 19 miners died, 50 were wounded. Nearly all of those were shot in the back. The sheriff and his deputies were acquitted, but the event helped establish the union in anthracite country, shaping the next 60 years of the area's history.

In 1982, a former prison guard named George Banks went on a shooting spree across Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Township. He shot thirteen people, seven of whom were children, five of those his own kids. He also killed their mothers, some relatives, and someone who was just outside on the street.

In 1986, a well-known, successful Wilkes-Barre dentist named Glenn Wolsiffer murdered his wife, Betty, while their 4yo daughter slept down the hall. Glenn tried to cover his tracks and blame an intruder, but it was discovered he was having an affair with his hygienist and killed his wife to clear the deck for a new one. They made a book and a movie called "Murders at 75 Birch Street". We always just called it The Birch Street Murder.