On 13 September 2024, Juliana Prosper, 48, along with two of her children, Giselle and Kyle, aged 13 and 16, were shot dead by Juliana's 18-year-old son Nicholas Prosper at their flat in Luton, England.^[1] All three had been killed with a double-barrelled shotgun in the early hours of the morning.^[2]

The police investigation found that Prosper had also intended to commit a school shooting at his former primary school, St. Joseph's Catholic in Luton.^[3][4] In March 2025 at Luton Crown Court, Prosper was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 49 years.

There has not been a school shooting in the United Kingdom since the Dunblane massacre in 1996, but there have been a growing number of unsuccessful plots in recent years.^[5]

Juliana Prosper (née Falcón) was born in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 4 June 1976, and migrated to England, where she married Ray Prosper, with whom she had four children.^[6] At the time of the murders, she was living in a flat off Wauluds Bank Drive with three of her children, including Nicholas.

Nicholas Prosper (born 18 December 2005),^[7] diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, was often described as a quiet and "geeky" boy while growing up with a strong interest in computers. Although he initially had a friend group in his teens, he became more and more isolated as he grew up. At one point, he was banned from a website used for documenting imagery relating to people's deaths for making pro-pedophilia comments.^[8]

Police found that Prosper had taken a strong interest in school shootings, especially the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; He specifically wanted to murder around 30 people to achieve a higher death toll before committing suicide.^[3] The intended massacre, which had been planned for over a year, was scheduled to take place on Friday the 13th.^[8] Prosper chose his former primary school due to his prior knowledge of the school's layout and security system. He was not bullied there. In August 2024, he attempted to buy a gun, but failed.^[8]

On 12 September, the day before the shooting, he bought a double-barrelled shotgun and 100 cartridges from a local dealer for £650 using a fake firearms licence.^[9] The dealer believed the licence to be legitimate and notified police about the purchase that same day. He was not arrested, as Prosper had researched the logos, signature, and types of paper on which United Kingdom gun licences are printed, resulting in a well-crafted forgery.^[8] He spent the rest of the day making online searches relating to instructions on how to kill someone with a shotgun, along with search queries relating to necrophilia and the murder of Sarah Everard.^[3]

A video uploaded by Prosper to Mega and shared on social media during the early hours of the day of the shooting, shows him declaring himself to be a "follower" of Clementine, a fictional character from The Walking Dead video game series, and showing contempt for his sister Giselle for a specific in-game choice several months prior, saying "her face will be mutilated further than necessary".^[2] Prosecutors claimed this was not relevant to the shooting.^[3]

On September 13, from midnight until around 4:32 am, Prosper continued his online research he had started the day before and watched "extreme animated pornography".^[10][11] The first shot fired at the flat was a "test shot" targeted at a teddy bear in Prosper's bedroom.^[12] Some time after this, according to the facts established at Prosper's sentencing, Prosper's mother, Juliana, is believed to have woken up earlier than Prosper had expected, and saw Prosper armed with the shotgun.^[10] Prosper had intended to kill his mother and two siblings in their sleep, believing that "3 shots [in] under 30 seconds" would not raise alarm from neighbours.^[12] A struggle between Juliana and Prosper ensued, during which Juliana appeared to have suffered defensive wounds on her hands and arms from being attacked with a knife, and culminated in Prosper shooting Juliana in the head at close range, killing her.^[10] Her body was found in the hallway.^[10] Giselle had now woken up, and Prosper fired at her, grazing the back of her head. She fled into the living room and attempted to conceal herself under a dining table, but Prosper pursued and shot her in the face, killing her.^[10][13]

Kyle Prosper had fled to the kitchen and retrieved a knife to defend himself with, but was shot in the chest from a distance by Prosper and subsequently stabbed or slashed over a hundred times with a knife while he begged for his life. Despite sustaining serious injuries, including a punctured lung, Kyle managed to escape into the hallway, but was then killed by Prosper with a gunshot to the head at close range.^[10] In total, seven cartridges were fired by Prosper in the flat, and Prosper reloaded at least twice.^[12][10]

Neighbours described hearing shouting, fighting and banging noises as the murders occurred.^[13][14] One neighbour, who began hearing the sounds shortly after 5:00 a.m., eventually went to the door of the flat to complain about the noise. She described hearing "banging and ruffling" noises and the sound of a boy groaning, followed by a gunshot-like sound, which prompted her to flee.^[14] The first 999 call came at around 5:29 a.m.^[10]

Prosper was seen on CCTV leaving the flat at 5:33 a.m., and police first arrived at the scene at around 5:50 a.m., making entry into the flat at 6:08 a.m.^[3][10] Police discovered the bodies of Juliana, Giselle and Kyle and found blood stains and bloodied handprints around the flat. Several bloodied knives were also found.^[10] A copy of the novel How to Kill Your Family was found placed upon Juliana's body.^[10]

Prosper had begun walking in the direction of St. Joseph's Primary School on Gardenia Avenue, with the reloaded shotgun and 33 cartridges in a large bag, but high police activity and the realisation that it was too early for the school to be open prompted Prosper to hide in a nearby wooded area for over two hours.^[10][12] In this time, Prosper shared the pre-recorded video where he referred to The Walking Dead online at 6:22 a.m., and disposed of two mobile phones, believing this would protect a group of paedophiles he talked to on X (formerly Twitter).^[3][10] At one point, Prosper abandoned the bag containing the shotgun and ammunition in a bush at a playing field.^[15]

At around 7:55 a.m., Prosper left his hiding spot and walked down Bramingham Road towards a passing police car, which he flagged down with a raised hand.^[13][16] Prosper believed that all the schools in the area would be locked down, so his plan was foiled, and decided to surrender as a result.^[17] The arresting officers, who had been on the way back to the station from the scene of the shooting, noticed Prosper and arrested him after noticing blood on his face.^[8] During his arrest, Prosper repeatedly said "It's not murder."^[8]

He was charged with three counts of murder, purchasing or acquiring a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a shotgun, and possession of a bladed article in a public place.^[18] Indecent images of children were also found on his phone, but, due to the severity of the other charges, he was not charged in relation to them.^[8]

At the time of his arrest, he was wearing distinctive yellow and black clothing, acting as a sort of "uniform" with which he had hoped to achieve notoriety.^[3]

As Nicholas Prosper was led out of his first court appearance on 16 September 2024, his father, Ray Prosper, shouted: "I still love you, son. It’s not your fault, OK?" before bursting into tears.^[19]

Prosper's trial date was set for 5 December, later delayed until 3 March 2025.^[20]

On 24 February 2025, Nicholas Prosper pleaded guilty to three counts of murder at Luton Crown Court, along with all other charges. Through his writings and conversations in prison, Prosper stated that he regretted not being able to kill more people.^[3]

On 19 March, Prosper was sentenced, by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, to life imprisonment with a minimum of 49 years to be served. Sentencing was delayed after Prosper initially refused to attend court but was ordered to do so by the judge.^[21][22]

• 2012 Waller killings and the 2015 Broken Arrow murders, two similar events in the United States, in which the perpetrators intended to carry out mass shootings after murdering their family.