michael ryan hungerford

Mrs Wainwright had the presence of mind to get out of the car and cower behind it. Following the massacre, the British press was inundated with stories about Michael Ryan and speculation as to why he had committed so many acts of unprovoked violence. Another, Eric Vardy, was killed. The beauty spot near Marlborough is a popular place with dog walkers, picnickers and ramblers. She thinks he saw Mrs Godfrey and her children having a picnic and enjoying themselves. 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. One man was injured. Dean called both her husband and the 999 emergency services. After the murders, though, visitors were less satisfied by remaining in the attractive main street. The bullet had passed through his skull and shattered his brain. Dean reported later that when she looked Ryan in the face, it seemed as if he was not even aware of her and was looking right through her. The police were not certain if Ryan had shot himself or just fired off a round. ", Several of Derek and Mary Whiting's relatives were shot. Jackson played dead and survived the shooting.He heard what happened next, as Dorothy Ryan, returning home from some shopping, arrived at the scene in her car. They usually hang up if a journalist approaches them and refuse to have their photograph taken in connection with the shooting. Wouldn't hurt a fly.". It banned the ownership of semi-automatic firearms and pump-action weapons and made registration mandatory for shotgun owners. Find Hungerford Michael Ryan stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Although many neighbours described Mr Ryan as a pleasant man, there were rumours he was especially strict with his son. 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. "I think she either refused to [have sex] or resisted," he said. It was during this time that he lost his caretaker job. Gunshots were often heard from Hungerford Common, at one end of South View. In the neighbouring forest he found Godfreys body, about 250 feet from her car. The names of the 16 people who were killed are listed on a stone set into the wall of the town's war memorial garden, with no mention of how they died. The Round Table helped by providing funds for taxis, rents, television rentals and other services. The investigation into Mrs Godfrey's death found she had not been raped. I saw Robert Clements hed been walking the dog with his dad, Ken, and just witnessed him shot dead in South View. Linda was hit in the shoulder and Alison in the right thigh. George White was driving Ivor Jackson back from work. Mrs Godfrey was killed at about 12:30 BST and Mrs Dean was shot at just five minutes later at the petrol station. George White and PC Roger Brereton were in their cars when they were shot. But we've stuck by each other.". Ryan hadnt stopped there, though. Witnesses report that at this point, Ryan seemed disgusted with the rifle and threw it onto the ground. Prof Jackson's colleague at Birmingham City University, Dr Elizabeth Yardley, has a different theory. It was being chased up the road by Michael Ryan. The Hungerford massacre was a spree shooting in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on 19 August 1987, when 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother, before shooting himself. "My brother and sister-in-law were on the list.". Here he found Susan Godfrey, 33, an attractive, auburn-haired mother, with her children, Hannah, 4, and James, 2. Police surrounded the school building and Brightwell worked to establish communication with Ryan and ultimately to persuade him to surrender. He uses it against the people he has grown up with and against the unarmed police that are called. He is still haunted, he says, by the photograph of his father dead in his car. One of the boys she was with went to fetch his mother, Sylvia Pascoe, a qualified first-aider who lived at No 14. However, the jovial atmosphere was soon to be shattered and peoples lives changed forever.Savernake Forest, a popular recreational area seven miles from Hungerford, was a favourite haunt of Ryans, where he would spend great deals of time pretending to be on army manoeuvres. Ivor Jacksons wife, Marjorie, had called him whilst Ryan was aiming a gun at her. He threw his Kalashnikov out of the window, leaving him with only his 9mm Beretta and ammunition. They flew the police helicopter past the window, but could not see in to the classroom. Ryan then shot at an ambulance, shattering its windscreen, as it was trying to reach some of the victims in a narrow lane. Ryan then abandoned his M1 carbine in the Memorial Gardens. Alfred Ryan, Michael's father, had become a parent in his mid-50s and was about 20 years older than Dorothy. 33 years ago today, a sleepy Berkshire town was rocked by one of the most shocking mass shootings ever seen in the UK. Mrs Jackson had known Ryan all of his life. She was wounded but managed to call her husband, Ivor Jackson, who worked close by. I thought I was safe.". At another point, close to the end, he said, I wish I had stayed in bed. Former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper is facing a midwifery misconduct hearing - three years after she confessed to trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. But she wasn't. She was still wearing it, soaked now with Lisa Mildenhall's blood, when she was finally allowed back home. He later died of shock and haemorrhage from the bullet wound to his neck. But what he did not realise was he was personally affected by the shootings. When that didn't bring him the respect he was looking for, he grabbed his guns and set out to kill as many people as he could. It was a good day to spend in the garden - hot and sunny. Dorothy then saw her son with a gun in his hand and called to him, saying, Stop Michael. She managed to drag herself into her house and survived. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryans weapons had been legally licenced. "She was dead on the ground, on her front just by the drive of our house. "Ill never forget what I saw that day, what happened to him, but I can't tell you. Shortly after midday, Michael Ryan had approached Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking in nearby Savernake Forest. Two more vehicles driving along the road were shot at. She told him someone was shooting across the back gardens of their road. By the time Dean looked back at him, he had assumed a shooting position, with the rifle aimed directly at her. Michael used to play at Mrs Jackson's home with one of her sons. At one point, he claimed to have an Israeli fragmentation type hand grenade, which seriously worried the police. I knew I had to help.". But it appears she never contradicted him in public. It's testament to her own strength of mind that she did. Everyone remembers the silence. He was making his way to a part-time gardening job in the nearby village of Inkpen. A 27-year-old unemployed local labourer, Michael Robert Ryan, armed with several weapons including an AK-47 rifle and a Beretta pistol, shot and killed sixteen people including his mother, and wounded fifteen others, then fatally shot himself. But this did actually ring true. He's dead. In a small village 60 miles west of London, at 12:30 in the afternoon, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shoots a mother dead. He took it seriously.". He used his semi-automatic rifle to strafe the front door and open it. Ryan, an unemployed handyman, also injured 15 people in the horrific attack before turning the gun on himself. At 6.52 pm, Brightwell heard a single muffled shot from the classroom. In a grove of trees headed by an ancient standing stone, near the cricket pitch used by the school in Hungerford where gunman Michael Ryan holed up, a body last night lay covered by a blanket. 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. All I could think of was the dogs. Ryan looked in through the kitchen window and pointed his gun at her. Brereton was hit by four of the bullets and died in his car. The dog and its pursuer rounded a bend before disappearing from view. In less than an hour, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had killed 12 of their classmates and 1 teacher, injuring 24. He also had a more sinister motivation for visiting the woodland. He had lost lots of blood, had bullets in his head and chest, his lung had been shot through and his arm was barely attached to his body. Sandra Hill, who'd moved away from the town, was visiting former school friends. She ducked below her counter just as a bullet pierced the safety glass above it and ricocheted through the small shop behind her. Ryan headed across the playing fields, still shooting. "I just thought: 'They dont want outsiders. 10 - Douglas Wainwright AETNUK All Rights Reserved. He would also brag to people about things he had not done, in a string of lies that made him seem far more capable and experienced than he actually was. The final shooting took place at about 13:45. 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. "At the hospital, where my mum was, everyone who'd been shot had been put into the same ward. As Mr Playle rounded a bend in Priory Street, Ryan fired a single shot. Seven minutes after saying this, at 18:52, he shot himself in the head. They warned ground units to set up a roadblock around South View, to stop any drivers entering the area, although they had no idea what Ryan would do next. Dr Yardley and Prof Jackson both believe that Ryan did not "snap" and carry out the killings. Dr Yardley says Ryan would have learned how to treat women from how his father treated his mother. He told his wife to stay indoors with the little girl she was babysitting and headed off to Hungerford town centre, first to a newsagent to buy some maps and then to the police station. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". His father, Alfred Henry Ryan, a government building inspector, was known for being a perfectionist and was 55 when Ryan was born.His mother, Dorothy Ryan, was over 20 years younger than her husband and was 34 when she had her only son. The teenager was still standing up when Mrs Pascoe arrived to help her. The speed with which he carried out his agenda indicates an element of forethought. The Hungerford Massacre was a spree shooting that took place in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on August 19, 1987. "It's funny, I've killed all those people but I don't have the guts to blow my own brains out.". "What he did was the ultimate taking back of control. Then Ryan had shot and killed Abdul Khan, a hard-of-hearing 84-year-old who was gardening. Lisa Mildenhall, 14, was shot and wounded by Ryan, who had smiled at her whilst she crouched on the ground at her front door, and then shot her four times in the legs and stomach. This documentary examines Ryan's childhood, his acquisition of guns, and the killings. "It was a massacre," she says. Chief Inspector Lambert had sent Sergeant Paul Brightwell and his team of eight officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit to investigate the school, unaware that this was indeed the exact location of the killer. 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. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. 2 - Sheila Mason The Hungerford police were already undertaking a manhunt for the killer and a police helicopter spotted Ryan. Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher interrupted her Cornish holiday to visit Hungerford. Lisa Mildenhall had been in the garden with her sister and two children from another house. I hurried home and got out of the car. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. The Jacksons remember him as being a model-railway enthusiast and "a lovely man who would help you with anything". Ryan approached, looked at him and shot him three times. He legally owned several semi-automatic weapons and told people he had been in the SAS - just one strand of a fantasy life woven by him and apparently perpetuated by his mother. 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. 6 were already dead.". Because Ryan burned down his home, any evidence of planning was destroyed. The Whitings' son Matthew, who was 11 at the time, was with his childminder in the playground and saw Mr Butler being shot. After some time, young Hannah unbuckled their seatbelts, so they could go in search of their mother. People later commented that his mental instability became increasingly apparent following the death of his father. Mrs Jackson, a bullet lodged in the base of her spine, crawled through the blood and glass on her linoleum and managed to lock Katie and Raffles, a Pekingese and a Tibetan spaniel, into a kitchen cupboard. At 6.45 pm he said, Its funny, I killed all those people but I havent got the guts to blow my own brains out. Her Majesty the Queens private secretary sent a letter of condolence from Buckingham Palace to Mayor Tarry and enclosed a personal contribution from the Queen. With her window open and radio on in her Renault 5, she became Ryans 13th murder victim, dying from a single shot. He had a few friends but always shied away from any sporting or social events at school. In an unfortunate turn of events, the police at the roadblock actually sent some drivers directly towards Ryan.Police Constable Roger Brereton rushed to the danger area of South View and Ryan shot at his patrol car 23 times. Slaughter on a warm summer's day: The Hungerford massacre, 47 minutes of horror: The Columbine massacre, Rampage killers : shooters without remorse, America's 8 deadliest mass shootings since Columbine, Crime + Investigation Play - What to watch in March 2023. Angela Wrightson: A chaotic life and brutal death. He says he was helped by a discovery made at the post-mortem examination - that his father had developed lung cancer. "I think he used to do it quite often, but then with him he used to say lots of things. "I effectively put myself on duty and thought because of my local knowledge I could show the armed response team the back routes around the town. The help will come from within the community'. She was inordinately lucky not to have been shot by him. Despite his elaborate fantasies, however, Ryan was not mentally ill. Medical reports show he had no history of mental illness - in fact, his doctor had countersigned Ryan's gun applications. It was his gun cupboard. "We got a letter from the Queen," Mr Jackson adds. Later that night, the clear-up began. The Jacksons had loved their home on South View, with its large garden, and were in the process of buying it. 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. In his right hand, tied to his wrist with a bootlace, was his Beretta pistol. Helicopters were hovering over Hungerford. The description of the shootings as a "tragedy" doesnt sit well with Mrs Jackson. Residents of the area were becoming increasingly worried as they continued to call for emergency help and none arrived. 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. Critics said the . He claimed he had been taken under the wing of a retired colonel who was going to buy him a house and a Ferrari. 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. 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. Ryan immediately turned to Alan Lepetit, a coalman who had helped install the Chubb steel cabinet for Ryans firearm collection. He returned to South View to find bodies on the ground and was asked by police to identify them. Gunman Michael Ryan shocked the country with his rampage around the quiet Berkshire town. Two days later, Mr Playle died from his injuries. As smoke filled the air from Ryans burning house, more people were hiding inside their homes. Police during the investigation in August 1987, Killer Michael Robert Ryan murdered several people while they were driving, The remains of Michael Ryan's house in South View, after he set fire to it. Prof Jackson says it was at this point Ryan changed his plans. This seemed to fit the profile of Michael Ryan. Mrs Jackson can remember Mrs Ryan telling her about a mysterious "friend" Michael had made. While the physical injuries from that fateful day have long since healed, the emotional scars in Hungerford still run deep. And strictly speaking, it was not his responsibility; Froxfield, though just outside Hungerford, was in Wiltshire rather than Berkshire and beyond the jurisdiction of Thames Valley Police. He explained who he was and his experience, and offered sympathy. The week before the shootings he had helped Ryan bring a heavy cabinet down the stairs. If this was his plan, it fell to pieces when his car would not restart. It was calculated that during the most intense period of Ryans rampage, he had killed an average of one person per minute. You are frightening everybody to death. Every single time.". I still get dreadful pain in my back. I thought he'd come in and kill them.". Emerging from the house, dressed in a headband and sleeveless flak jacket, Ryan carried a bag filled with food and other supplies. "And I hear the arguments of the gun lobby, who want to preserve the right to bear arms, and I think: 'You should come here and see what guns did to Hungerford. Ryan also killed his family dog and set fire to his house. "It hit at the heart of my professionalism, of everything I'd ever done for the town. Meanwhile, police were busy getting some people to safety and preventing others from going where they thought Ryan might move to next. She had been at work in Hungerford when the news about the shootings came on the radio. He left his shotguns in his broken-down car, grabbed a pistol and two automatic rifles and almost immediately shot dead Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in their garden at the back of 6 South View. 5 - Abdul Khan She seemed more concerned about her trousers than her wounds. His face, she says, was expressionless. 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. 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. "I just broke down in tears," Mr Wainwright says. By now, the name of the gunman was circulating. Ryan used a semi-automatic rifle, an M1 Carbine and a Beretta pistol to carry out a string of attacks in the village. A police negotiator managed to engage him in conversation. At about 16:45, police entered the playground. Dorothy Ryan tried to reason with her son. "Members of the public were in the station with the police. 3 - Kenneth Clements "They couldnt cope. "He was a good man. "I always encouraged him to talk about what happened, and one day he whispered to me and asked if he could use a rude word. S02:E04 - Peter Sutcliffe - the Yorkshire Ripper. Michael Payne (uncredited) Ryan Hanley Surgeon (uncredited) Director Ruki Sidhwa Writer Helen Tonge All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro Storyline Edit A look back at the Hungerford Massacre (1987) and its impact on the people who survived to one of the worst tragedies of UK history. People were sheltering in doorways and I pulled up and asked what was going on. The event became known as the Hungerford massacre. Ryan had been targeting people he happened across in streets and gardens. Inside, PC Roger Brereton, a traffic officer who had volunteered to investigate, was slumped against the steering wheel, clearly dead. At age 16, he left John OGaunt School to attend a technical college, the Newbury College of Further Education, intending to learn to become a building contractor.Although he tried hard, it soon became apparent that Ryan showed no flair for this trade and soon dropped out of college. Many were attended by people who had never known the deceased in life, but wished to show support for their families and the bereaved Hungerford community in general. People came to buy goods, eat in the restaurants and stay at the inns. Ryan killed himself at 6.52pm in John O'Gaunt Community Technology College. The manager later reported that Ryan spent a lot of time at the club and that he was a very good shot, showing consistent accuracy over large distances. At about 02:00 she looked out of the window and saw the bodies from South View being collected and driven away. She parked behind Whites car and opening the door and looking in, said, Oh Ivor and then hurried up the road. News crews at John O'Gaunt School in Hungerford, Berkshire, where Michael Robert Ryan committed suicide following the Hungerford Massacre. 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. ", Trevor Wainwright still lives in Hungerford. Their pictures were a grim account of the trail of destruction and death that Ryan had left in his wake. At age 11, he moved from the local primary school opposite his home, to the John OGaunt Secondary School, where he underachieved academically and would often play truant. 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. Terrified, crying and huddled against the wall, she begged him not to kill her. He became a skilled shooter and member of two gun clubs. Maybe he was distracted; maybe he enjoyed the power of sparing Mrs Wainwright's life. 1 - Roland Mason Its occupants, Linda Chapman and her daughter, Alison Chapman, whilst wounded, both survived. Along the way, Ryan shot and wounded a man, who was pulled to safety as Ryan moved closer in order to shoot him again. She recognised him as a regular customer at the petrol station, but not a chatty or friendly one. I probably did three or four of these checks a week. Mrs Whiting remembers: "He was very upset for weeks afterwards. This Wednesday was no different, with the schools on holiday, many people were taking advantage of the good weather. He headed straight there and was greeted by a nurse who said Kathleen was fine and Douglas was in the operating theatre. 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. Alan Lepetit, Mrs Whiting's brother, was a neighbour of Ryan's, living in South View. "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'. Whilst people did recognise that she was a victim, Canon John Reynolds, who conducted the service, selected not to mention her son and only made a brief reference to the Hungerford massacre. Ryan shot at her, making a hole in the side window. His wife and children had been in the car but were unhurt. "I was desperate to get into the house. It's not known whether Ryan spent a long time watching Sue Godfrey, a 35-year-old nurse who had stopped with her two young children for a picnic lunch. 15 - Ian Playle, Susan Godfrey was shot and killed in Savernake Forest. Write by: . 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. "We cope by taking every day as it comes. Prof Craig Jackson, a psychologist who specialises in spree killers, thinks there was also a sexual motive. "She asked me what my dad looked like," he says. They were unable to refuse him as he had no record of mental instability and no criminal record. Another witness reported that Ryan warned several children to get off the street and go inside. It was on August 19 1987 that loner and gun fanatic Michael Ryan went on a shooting rampage in Hungerford, a market town in Berkshire. Knowing his way around the streets, he had tried to drive home by another route. He then asked the time and was silent for a while. Close to tears, she toured the streets, met with the relatives and visited victims in hospital. With Craig Jackson, Donal MacIntyre, Sean Preston, Michael Ryan. Michael Ryan was just so, so insignificant. I had been the one to carry out the checks for Ryans firearms licence.". Eventually, shots were heard coming from John O'Gaunt School. Thirty years since the Hungerford tragedy. He had what appeared to be a normal upbringing, although he was perhaps overindulged by his mother. "I rushed back to check on Jane and on the way I saw smoke coming up from South View [a nearby street]. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits Hungerford the day after the attack, Mrs Thatcher meets police and people affected by the incident, This aerial shot shows people fleeing the attack, A Floral tribute outside Hungerford Town Hall, A shocked policeman cradling a young girl after her father was brutally murdered, Graham Brunsden was one of many who risked their lives trying to help the victims, Vicar in church with people praying in Hungerford, Janet Mason whose parents, pensioners Roland and Sheila Mason, were among those killed, along with her husband, two children and brother Chris, Marlyne Vardy at the funeral of husband Eric, Police attend a press conference the day after the incident, Dorothy and Alfred Ryan, parents of murderer Michael Ryan. "If it had happened today, there would probably be some sort of trail on a computer as perpetrators tend to do a lot of research.". I've never run so fast. Ryan stormed into the shop and again aimed his rifle at Dean. Fifteen vehicles were taken away for forensic examination. However, Prof Jackson said it was likely Ryan had intended to do so. "I just started to run. Ryan then went to Froxtield petrol station, where he was watched by Mrs Kakoub Dean, wife of the owner, as he filled up his metallic silver Vauxhall Astra GTE, as well as a five-litre can. "He was going to set fire to his mother's house and drive away, leaving the police to believe he'd died in the fire.". 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. The elder Mr and Mrs Wainwright had been about 300 yards from their son's house when Douglas Wainwright was shot in the head and Kathleen Wainwright in the chest and the hand. 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. He was John Storms, 49, a washing machine engineer who had been called out to Hungerford Park Farm on business. Now, he added a new dimension. A groundsheet was found nearby, which could have been laid by Ryan in order to contain DNA evidence. His wife and children were unhurt. Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attacking seven other women. Bob Barclay, a local builder and nearby resident, risking his own life, bravely ran out and dragged Storms from his car, managing to half crouch and half run with Storms into the safety of his garden. Prof Craig Jackson believes Ryan had a sexual motive. It was absolute panic stations. Your dad's been shot. As his wife, Mary, says: "So many of our family were shot that day. [CDATA[// >