Patrick Tracy Burris
spree killer

Patrick Tracy Burris (August 8, 1967 – July 6, 2009) was an American spree killer responsible for at least five known murders in Cherokee County, South Carolina in 2009. Over a span of six days, he shot and killed five people. His final known victim died of her injuries in the hospital on July 4, 2009. On July 6, 2009, police shot and killed Burris during a shootout in Dallas, North Carolina. His gun was matched by ballistics tests to the bullets used in the murders.
Personal life
Burris was known to police as a repeat offender. At the time of his death, he had a criminal record running to more than 25 pages in length, and had just served an eight-year sentence in jail and was released in April 2009. Neil Dolan, deputy director of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, said of Burris: "He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird."
Murders
Burris committed the first murder on June 27, 2009, in Gaffney, South Carolina.
The public source identifies “Patrick Tracy Burris” as spree killer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Patrick, Tracy and Burris.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Patrick Tracy Burris”, the useful work is to connect “spree killer” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11060004. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967 and 2009.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Patrick Tracy Burris”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Patrick Tracy Burris primary sources, Patrick Tracy Burris archive and Patrick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Patrick Tracy Burris”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Patrick Tracy Burris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.