He would become extremely angry if people did not believe him and his mother would often confirm these lies to people, in a desperate effort to help her son feel better. I had been the one to carry out the checks for Ryans firearms licence.". You are frightening everybody to death. This seemed to fit the profile of Michael Ryan. Ivor Jacksons wife, Marjorie, had called him whilst Ryan was aiming a gun at her. She ducked below her counter just as a bullet pierced the safety glass above it and ricocheted through the small shop behind her. The local Hungerford police station was in the process of being renovated and had only two telephone lines working on that day. The Hoddle Street massacre was committed by a former soldier who wore combat fatigues. "He used to wear camouflage gear, that sort of thing. It is thought he might not have heard the commotion. The dog and its pursuer rounded a bend before disappearing from view. "Writing the letter did me good, but I don't think it would have helped the people of Dunblane.". Large crowds attended the funerals of Ryan's victims, Trevor Jackson had first heard of the shootings when a colleague asked: "What's happened to your parents?". But she wasn't. Then he tore his heartfelt letter up. Marjorie Jackson recuperating in hospital in 1987, "I just thought to myself, I'm a mother. The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who was on holiday in Cornwall at the time, was notified of the events and kept informed via a special phone line from Downing Street. Sharp, acrid and smoky.". The Hungerford Report led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricted the use of shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than two rounds. 9 - Marcus Barnard Her children, who were 85 yards away from where her body was found, were later reunited with their father. Brightwell answered that he did not know at the time but was attempting to find out, and continued to persuade him to drop his weapons and come outside. In his right hand, tied to his wrist with a bootlace, was his Beretta pistol. "It hit at the heart of my professionalism, of everything I'd ever done for the town. Next to him, in the passenger seat, Ivor Jackson was also shot in his arm, chest and head. 20th August 1987. With blood running down his face, he could only watch through half-closed eyes as Dorothy Ryan, Michaels mother, arrived home from the Wednesday market. It was a police vehicle which had its blue lights flashing. The case of Michael Ryan, who went on a killing spree in the small town of Hungerford, resulting in the murder of 16 people, including his own mother. "We got a letter from the Queen," Mr Jackson adds. Dr Yardley believes Ryan was attempting to wrest some sort of control from society. Betty Tolladay, 71, had heard loud bangs, and thinking it was children playing with firecrackers, had come out into her back garden to shout at them to keep the noise down. He saw Mr White and Mr Jackson in the car and Mr Clements - who had been walking his dog with his family - lying dead on the footpath. 6 were already dead.". Ryan fired at them and Victor died instantly, whilst Myrtle died later in hospital. Ryan immediately turned to Alan Lepetit, a coalman who had helped install the Chubb steel cabinet for Ryans firearm collection. The boy enjoyed pointing his weapon at cows, birds and even other children, says Dr Yardley. When PC Wainwright, wearing his off-duty clothes of shorts and a Fred Perry polo shirt, was called into his superior's office, he thought he was going to be told to put his uniform on. I believe Ryan had probably been fantasising about it on a low level, but the events that day - and his personality type - led to it. Armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and at least one. The Whitings' son Matthew, who was 11 at the time, was with his childminder in the playground and saw Mr Butler being shot. "Ill never forget what I saw that day, what happened to him, but I can't tell you. That summer afternoon Ryan, a 27-year-old unemployed labourer, killed 16 people . 13 - Victor Gibbs Preparing to leave for her grandmothers 95th birthday, Godfrey was packing away the picnic when a grim looking Ryan approached, dressed all in black and pointing a 9mm Beretta pistol at her. I was due to go and visit her, but I thought I couldn't. Whether Mrs Ryan truly believed her son's imaginings is impossible to tell. Ryan then shot at an ambulance, shattering its windscreen, as it was trying to reach some of the victims in a narrow lane. "Members of the public were in the station with the police. Dorothy Ryan, Michaels mother, was a lunchtime supervisor at the primary school where Mrs Jackson worked. He tried starting his car but to no avail. Ambulances lined the main street. Every single time.". "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". From the eerie quiet of Hungerford High Street after the murder of 16 people to the trail of blood leading up to the bedroom of an anonymous terraced house, Shepherd conjures up the uncanny. 11 - Eric Vardy Meanwhile, police were busy getting some people to safety and preventing others from going where they thought Ryan might move to next. Ryan killed himself at 6.52pm in John O'Gaunt Community Technology College. Their inability to defend themselves against their bullies means that shame, guilt, anger, hate and the need for revenge builds inside them. What happened to the Hatton Garden burglars? Marching her away from her two young children, he shot her 13 times in the back. It seemed that the guns gave Ryan the feeling of power and control that he had always lacked. "After what happened, lots of people split up," says Ivor Jackson. His face, she says, was expressionless. He pulled the wheeled stretcher with him and managed to load both Mr and Mrs Jackson and Lisa Mildenhall into the ambulance. The Victims - 19 August 1987: Susan Godfrey, 35 shot and died, Kakoub Dean shot at (missed, then firearm malfunctioned), Police Constable Roger Brereton shot and died, Hazel Haslett windscreen shot, injured by glass and survived, Kathleen Wainwright, 62 shot and survived, Man from 62 Priory Road shot and survived, Woman from 71 Priory Road shot and survived. Shortly before 2pm, Bert Whatley, a Priory Road resident, watched as Ryan, walking slowly, with his head down, entered the John OGaunt Secondary School, which was closed for the summer holidays. He had a few friends but always shied away from any sporting or social events at school. Prof Jackson also considers Ryan was heavily influenced by a mass shooting occurring 10 days earlier in Melbourne, Australia, that was reported on television in the UK. In addition to this, the local telephone exchange could not handle the amount of 999 calls that were being made, as Ryan wreaked havoc across the suburbs and people desperately tried phoning for help. I happened to mention that a chap that worked with my wife was injured during the shootings, to which he suggested that it was a good job that the SAS finished him off when they did. Still shooting, Ryan then walked to the end of the road, went along a footpath and made his way across some playing fields. Semi-automatic rifles Ryan used during his rampage. The act banned semi-automatic and pump-action rifles; weapons which fire explosive ammunition; short shotguns with magazines; and elevated pump-action and self-loading rifles. Continuing to live with his parents, his doting and indulgent mother would pay for anything he could not afford, including cars, petrol, insurance, and even his first gun, an air rifle. 19th August 1987. "It's funny, I've killed all those people but I don't have the guts to blow my own brains out.". When Michael Ryan went on a killing spree in Hungerford in 1987, the news - like last week's shootings in Cumbria - shocked the country. Shortly after midday, Michael Ryan had approached Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking in nearby Savernake Forest. He also had a more sinister motivation for visiting the woodland. Mrs Whiting remembers: "He was very upset for weeks afterwards. 14 - Myrtle Gibbs If there is a shooting elsewhere in the world, he braces himself for his phone to ring. He noticed the blue flashing light on the police car and decided to stroll up to ask the officer what was going on. Dr Yardley and Prof Jackson both believe that Ryan did not "snap" and carry out the killings. Kahn died later of his wounds. Ryan stormed into the shop and again aimed his rifle at Dean. Ryan walked past a young boy, Dean Lavisher, without seeming to notice him, but fired at another boy riding past on his bicycle, Dean Cadle, thankfully missing him. The woman did not believe them at first but agreed to help them find her. She managed to drag herself into her house and survived. Meanwhile, a police officer had noticed Godfreys empty car with open doors and had gone to investigate. "I knew Id been hit. "In fact, I first thought it was another lad who lived there. The mother-of-four, 38, from Kent . Knowing his way around the streets, he had tried to drive home by another route. Godfreys children watched as he climbed into his car, which was parked next to theirs, and drive away without a word to them. During the next 90 minutes, Brightwell and Ryan held a long and detailed conversation, during which Ryan seemed quite lucid, calm and easy to talk to. Fifteen vehicles were taken away for forensic examination. The police officers at the scene did not apprehend him at this point, as they were unarmed. She parked behind Whites car and opening the door and looking in, said, Oh Ivor and then hurried up the road. He was shooting at me. With her window open and radio on in her Renault 5, she became Ryans 13th murder victim, dying from a single shot. Two more vehicles driving along the road were shot at. Flowers began arriving at the town hall, where the flag flew at half-mast. The Killing Spree That Changed UK Gun Laws: Hungerford Massacre (Crime Documentary) | Real Stories Real Stories 5.92M subscribers Subscribe 3.4K 462K views 3 years ago Explores the case of. "There were no big wounds at the back of Lisa's legs. Pic: Daily Mail / Hungerford Massacre 1987. On 19 August 1987, gunman Michael Ryan went on the rampage in the small town of Hungerford. As he drove the three-and-a-half miles a news report came on the radio about a suspected armed robbery at a petrol station in Froxfield. Read more: Amazing archive photos show the changing face of Reading in the 1960s, Read more: Caversham Park Village from the air 50 years ago. I could smell cordite in the air. The Jacksons had loved their home on South View, with its large garden, and were in the process of buying it. Ambulance-woman Hazel Haslett was injured in the arm and the leg by broken glass. Alan Lepetit, Mrs Whiting's brother, was a neighbour of Ryan's, living in South View. Ryan said he would not exit the building until he had news of his mothers condition.Some of the things Ryan shouted out the window to Brightwell were, Hungerford must be a bit of a mess; If only the police car hadnt turned up. "It's difficult to ascertain exactly how much he planned it, but I think it was well in advance and right down to minor details," says Dr Yardley. The town had long been a tourist destination. "They were looking for bullet holes and spent shell cases to collect. An only child, Michael Robert Ryan was born on 18 May 1960 in the Savernake hospital, Hungerford. Also, he had never before bought so much petrol at one time, making Dean suspicious, so she kept an eye on him.Whilst Dean served another customer, Ian George, Ryan went to the boot of his car and brought out a semi-automatic rifle. In 1987, Michael Ryan committed a killing spree that left sixteen dead and sixteen injured. Armed with three guns, he had already murdered six people and seriously injured seven more. At about 16:45, police entered the playground. Stop it, you stupid bugger!. The loss affected him profoundly and he became increasingly withdrawn, often going off alone to the shooting range, or working on cars. Ryan was a shy child with a keen interest in the military. He arrived back in South View in time to set fire to his home, shoot his dog, chase another dog, and take three guns from his car before killing Mr and Mrs Mason at 12:47. Mrs Pascoe stemmed the bleeding and stayed with the girl until an ambulance arrived. Moving up Fairview Road, Ryan found neighbour, Abdul Khan, 84, a retired restaurateur, mowing the lawn in his back garden. ]]> Former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper is facing a midwifery misconduct hearing - three years after she confessed to trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. In a further twist of fate, the local police helicopter was in for repair but police mechanics eventually made it ready for flight and it was deployed at around the time Ryan shot his mother. Ryan's mother consistently pandered to her husband and son so Michael saw her as someone who was there to do things for him and essentially serve him - so he felt a sense of entitlement to treat her however he wanted.". They keep meaning to frame it and put it up on the wall. "There was a picture of my dad, dead in a car with a blanket over him. It transpired that they were the parents of the police officer who had run all the checks on Ryan when he had applied for a modified licence, to own more powerful firearms. When he was 13 his mother bought him an air rifle. "I got into the house and slammed the door. Even now Mr Jackson has not been back to South View. Angela Wrightson: A chaotic life and brutal death. Not able to stand by and idly watch people suffer, he had repeatedly risked his life to help a number of victims, giving first aid where he could and solace to those having lost loved ones. Policemen. Robert, his frightened son, escaped by jumping over a fence into the neighbouring school, whilst the rest of the family literally ran for their lives. In the ambulance on the way to hospital in Swindon, Ivor Jackson's heart had twice stopped beating. On 8 October 1987, a memorial and rededication service was held for the town of Hungerford. The investigation into Mrs Godfrey's death found she had not been raped. Gunman Michael Ryan shocked the country with his rampage around the quiet Berkshire town. 10 - Douglas Wainwright "I don't think he fully intended to commit a killing spree that day. It seemed that whilst he was in the midst of a murderous rampage, he still felt the need to protect children. "If he did have a sexual crime in mind, then that would have been about control too.". Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. Why are you doing this?. Gunshots were often heard from Hungerford Common, at one end of South View. While the physical injuries from that fateful day have long since healed, the emotional scars in Hungerford still run deep. The open-air service outside the town hall was attended by over 60 percent of the population of Hungerford and the principal sermon preached by Right Honourable Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury.Apart from the numerous local and international newspaper articles written about the Hungerford Massacre and Michael Ryan, there were also several books. Pathologists determined she was killed by the first three bullets. The Hungerford Massacre on August 19, 1987, saw 16 people killed in a. Cash and cheques poured in from well-wishers, some even from children, and a Tragedy Fund was established, in collaboration with Lloyds TSB, Barclays and NatWest, the three banks in Hungerford. If it comes up, he leaves the room or goes to sit in the greenhouse. Instead, Sgt Ryan said: "I dont know how to tell you this. The bullet had passed through his skull and shattered his brain. Mrs Wainwright had the presence of mind to get out of the car and cower behind it. By now, the name of the gunman was circulating. It was confirmed that Michael Robert Ryan had fatally shot himself at 6.52 pm on Wednesday, 19 August 1987, with a single gunshot to the head. "It was just routine. He was John Storms, 49, a washing machine engineer who had been called out to Hungerford Park Farm on business. Ryan fired at helicopters from this window. Routine admissions were cancelled, the X-ray department and the blood bank were put on alert, extra doctors and support staff was made available and the victims started pouring in. Saturday marks 30 years since Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. He told people he had served in the Second Parachute Regiment of the British armed forces, that he was getting married, and that he owned a gun shop. Alfred Ryan, Michael's father, had become a parent in his mid-50s and was about 20 years older than Dorothy. He even persuaded the police to grant him a licence to own more powerful firearms. The birds didn't sing again for five days.". "He certainly had no 'manifesto' or message to the world.". Ryan's mother Dorothy was shot not far from her home in South View as she pleaded with her son to stop the shooting. Not academically gifted nor particularly driven, Ryan was unremarkable at school. She was inordinately lucky not to have been shot by him. I saw Robert Clements hed been walking the dog with his dad, Ken, and just witnessed him shot dead in South View. George White and PC Roger Brereton were in their cars when they were shot. Mrs Godfrey was killed at about 12:30 BST and Mrs Dean was shot at just five minutes later at the petrol station. LONDON (AP) _ Michael Ryan, the gun-loving loner who became Britain's worst mass murderer, won't be buried with the doting mother he killed and ''almost certainly'' won't be buried in the town he devastated, his family said Saturday. There was a police guard on the front door so he had sneaked through the garden and into the house through the back door. Ryan intimated he might be prepared to give himself up. This powerful mix of emotions is often later expressed in an inappropriately violent response. Having chased the spaniel away, Ryan returned. Dorothy then saw her son with a gun in his hand and called to him, saying, Stop Michael. "He was trapped and didn't have a viable way out of his situation.". Ryan also killed his family dog and set fire to his house. She was a respected and popular member of the community and used to work as a dinner lady at the Hungerford Primary School before becoming a part-time waitress at the Elcot Park Hotel, where she worked for 12 years, until her death.Ryan grew up in South View, Hungerford and relatives remembered him as a quiet, mostly sullen and quite self-centred boy. "I said he could, and he said: 'When that man shot that man, all of the birds flew out of the trees and shat themselves'. Ryan shot at her, making a hole in the side window. He then shot her in the back with a Beretta pistol. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. He put some petrol in his car and some in a canister. What she found was houses on fire, people lying dead in their gardens and smashed cars lining the street. Sixteen people were killed and 15 more were seriously injured in what was the UK's worst mass. Dr Gregory Moffat, a childhood aggression specialist, claimed that victims of bullying are generally small, weak, lack confidence and are loners. Ryan approached, looked at him and shot him three times. Later, police told her they believed her life had been saved by the fact she'd kept her curtains drawn as she pottered about, doing her housework in her nightgown. George Noon, 67, was standing in the garden of his sons house, 109 Priory Road, when Ryan shot him in the shoulder and the eye, but he survived. Seven minutes after saying this, at 18:52, he shot himself in the head. Armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and at least one. I was on the floor. I still get dreadful pain in my back. At one point, he claimed to have an Israeli fragmentation type hand grenade, which seriously worried the police. "Breaking in or shooting into a house and killing the inhabitants and then holding the position for a while before moving on, would have appealed to his military ideals and fantasies," says Prof Jackson. She had been at work in Hungerford when the news about the shootings came on the radio. Brereton was hit by four of the bullets and died in his car. There he announced that he had commissioned a report on the massacre from the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Colin Smith. Sandra Hill, was shot while driving; Jack and Myrtle Gibbs, were shot in their home in Priory Road; and Ian Playle was shot while driving into Hungerford on a shopping trip with his wife and two children. Dean called both her husband and the 999 emergency services. Write by: . Hungerford is a pretty canalside town famous for its antiques shops and upmarket boutiques. "I didnt know by doing that, by asking him to come home, I was just leading them both into danger.". George sped off on his motorcycle. Shortly after Ms Haslett escaped South View, her colleague Derek Whiting arrived in a second ambulance, completely unaware that a gunman was at large. I need to get better and I will walk again. Ryan, an unemployed laborer and an antique dealer, was walking in Hungerford, Berkshire, on a summer afternoon when he targeted his first victim - a mother of two children in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, at 12:30 pm. Because Ryan burned down his home, any evidence of planning was destroyed. Linda Chapman and her teenage daughter Alison - Mr Whiting's sister and niece - were hit. "We were all told to lie down and not move. People came to buy goods, eat in the restaurants and stay at the inns. Find professional Hungerford Michael Ryan videos and stock footage available for license in film, television, advertising and corporate uses. When, in March 1996 Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in the Stirling town of Dunblane, Trevor Wainwright decided to write to the Scottish police. Shotguns had to be registered and were required to be kept in secure storage. By this stage, the press had heard of the killing spree and arrived in the area, taking photographs of the dead and wounded, and unethically gaining access to some of the victims houses, by saying they were crime scene personnel. After killing his mother, Ryan walked across the school playing field, firing randomly. He says he was helped by a discovery made at the post-mortem examination - that his father had developed lung cancer. Further delays were caused by the firearms squad being in training about 40 miles away. Seventy-eight bullet holes were found. Over the moon at the news of his father's survival, PC Wainwright telephoned his brothers and sister. Mildenhall survived the shooting.Kenneth Clements was walking along the footpath with his family, towards South View, when Ryan appeared and shot him once, killing him instantly. Police were still hunting for the gunman in their midst. I could see her hip bone.". Say the name Hungerford and most people will associate the town with the events of Wednesday, 19 August, 1987. They lived a few doors from each other and their families were friends. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. Because the road was blocked by PC Brereton and Mr White's car, he and his partner could not drive their ambulance up, so he went on foot. On 19 August 1987, gunman Michael Ryan went on the rampage in the small town of Hungerford. Some more minor details of that fateful day in 1987 vary in the different accounts but all agree that it will remain in memory as one of the worst gun crimes in British history.Sir Charles Pollard, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police from 1991 2001, commented, The realisation that this could happen in fun-loving England, where we dont have guns and the police arent armed it changed policing and it changed society forever.. Police in action during a Gun siege in Hungerford, Berkshire. Mrs Jackson noticed he was holding a gun in each hand. Ryan was holding one of his most prized possessions - a Chinese copy of a Kalashnikov semi-automatic rifle. "At the hospital, where my mum was, everyone who'd been shot had been put into the same ward. The wheelchair-bound Myrtle was totally vulnerable and Victor threw himself across her to protect her from the crazed gunman. A car drove towards Ryan and he shot both occupants. I've never run so fast. [CDATA[// >
