His wife and children had been in the car but were unhurt. I thought I was safe.". Plot summary Add synopsis Genres Documentary He needed numerous operations and still suffers, both physically and mentally. He also had several different firearms: a Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic pistol; an M1 carbine semi-automatic assault rifle; and a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle loaded with armour-piercing bullets. 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. 2 - Sheila Mason Ryan, an unemployed handyman, also injured 15 people in the horrific attack before turning the gun on himself. "They were looking for bullet holes and spent shell cases to collect. Not academically gifted nor particularly driven, Ryan was unremarkable at school. 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. He is still haunted, he says, by the photograph of his father dead in his car. Eric Vardy, a carpenter and van driver for Norland Nursery College, was on his way with passenger, Steven Ball, to a builders supplier. The Hungerford Family Help Unit was hastily established in makeshift offices, co-ordinated by John Smith, to help a community suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. "It hasn't got any easier. His real passions were cars and guns. Ryan's mother Dorothy was shot not far from her home in South View as she pleaded with her son to stop the shooting. The police had already received a report, from George, of an armed robbery in progress at the petrol station and were en route to her. Armed with three guns, he had already murdered six people and seriously injured seven more. "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.". Ryan was finally cornered and an armed officer trained his sights on him. The dog and its pursuer rounded a bend before disappearing from view. Two days later, Mr Playle died from his injuries. The result was police were often up to 40 minutes behind his movements. It seemed that the guns gave Ryan the feeling of power and control that he had always lacked. She seemed more concerned about her trousers than her wounds. Wouldn't hurt a fly.". "I was desperate to get into the house. "There were no big wounds at the back of Lisa's legs. Knowing his way around the streets, he had tried to drive home by another route. Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher interrupted her Cornish holiday to visit Hungerford. 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. Dr Yardley believes Ryan was attempting to wrest some sort of control from society. Ryan was lying slumped in the corner, near a window, apparently dead.The rest of the unit entered the room and checked that he was not wired with explosives as a booby trap. Their younger son Trevor, who had been 18 in 1987, is being treated for PTSD while his older brother Peter, who was in the same year as Ryan at school, refuses to talk about that day. Watched by neighbours, he went into the house and muffled shots were heard. I saw Robert Clements hed been walking the dog with his dad, Ken, and just witnessed him shot dead in South View. 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. Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. He says he was helped by a discovery made at the post-mortem examination - that his father had developed lung cancer. Saturday marks 30 years since Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. Abdul Rahman Khan, was shot in his garden; George White, was shot in South View while driving Ivor Jackson home from work. Another reporter followed their sister home from the hospital. "There was a picture of my dad, dead in a car with a blanket over him. He uses it against the people he has grown up with and against the unarmed police that are called. As Mr Playle rounded a bend in Priory Street, Ryan fired a single shot. At around 4 pm, the Royal Air Force hospital in nearby Wroughton contacted the Princess Margaret Hospital to inform them that they could take the next two serious and six minor casualties. 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. When he slowed down to see what was happening, Ryan shot him in the head with the AK-47 and he died instantly. I had been the one to carry out the checks for Ryans firearms licence.". His wife, who had a bullet in her spine, was not expected to walk again. Both died instantly. But she wasn't. The wheelchair-bound Myrtle was totally vulnerable and Victor threw himself across her to protect her from the crazed gunman. Why are you doing this?. 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. Seeing two of his neighbours, Roland and Sheila Mason, in their back garden, he shot Roland six times and Sheila once, in the head. Mr Whiting did not understand. He was making his way to a part-time gardening job in the nearby village of Inkpen. As he went along Priory Road, Ryan stopped at the home of Myrtle and Victor Gibbs, whose door was, as usual, locked. Ryan then abandoned his M1 carbine in the Memorial Gardens. 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. 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. Michael Ryan was just so, so insignificant. Residents of the area were becoming increasingly worried as they continued to call for emergency help and none arrived. That was possibly even worse than hearing it the first time.". '", Chief Inspector Laurie Fray and PC Colin Lilley hold Ryan's murder weapons. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited the village on Thursday, August 20, 1987, the day after the shooting, to pay her condolences. Armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and at least one. 10 - Douglas Wainwright Dr Yardley thinks he planned them well in advance. Then he shot himself. 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. What happened to the Hatton Garden burglars? Thomas Hamilton murdered 17 people in Dunblane in 1996. On 8 October 1987, a memorial and rededication service was held for the town of Hungerford. The mother-of-four, 38, from Kent . "She was dead on the ground, on her front just by the drive of our house. Linda was hit in the shoulder and Alison in the right thigh. "They couldnt cope. "She tried to tell Michael to stop and he shot her at close range," Mr Jackson adds. The man, Douglas Wainwright, hit twice in the chest and once in the head, died instantly but his wounded wife, Kathleen Wainwright survived. But, he reasoned, it was his day off. He took it seriously.". There he announced that he had commissioned a report on the massacre from the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Colin Smith. Sent them away.". hungerford massacre photos. Unfortunately, the bullet travelled up into Alisons lower back, leaving her permanently disabled. Dr Gregory Moffat, a childhood aggression specialist, claimed that victims of bullying are generally small, weak, lack confidence and are loners. S02:E04 - Peter Sutcliffe - the Yorkshire Ripper. The Hoddle Street massacre was committed by a former soldier who wore combat fatigues. Ryan intimated he might be prepared to give himself up. "[Mr Ryan] was quite the bully. Having chased the spaniel away, Ryan returned. 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. "It was just routine. "I told her he had tattoos, was about 6ft 1in and had grey hair. It seemed that whilst he was in the midst of a murderous rampage, he still felt the need to protect children. Alan Lepetit, Mrs Whiting's brother, was a neighbour of Ryan's, living in South View. 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. Ryan fired at helicopters from this window. Further delays were caused by the firearms squad being in training about 40 miles away. In contrast, Dorothy Ryans funeral service, held at St Marys Church in Calne, Wiltshire, was only attended by 40 mourners. These include Lonewolf: True Stories of Spree Killers (May 2002) by Pan Pantziarka and The Encyclopedia of Mass Murder by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg (1993). The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 was passed in the wake of the massacre. 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. Hungerford is a big shooting area, farmers and gun clubs and that sort of thing. On 19 August 1987, gunman Michael Ryan went on the rampage in the small town of Hungerford. He took no heed of her pleas and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I could smell cordite in the air. 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. A fellow park visitor, Myra Rose, found the children wandering around and they told her their mother had been shot. He had a few friends but always shied away from any sporting or social events at school. Witnesses report that at this point, Ryan seemed disgusted with the rifle and threw it onto the ground. Then Ryan had shot and killed Abdul Khan, a hard-of-hearing 84-year-old who was gardening. He's dead. The Hungerford Report The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. Mrs Pascoe stemmed the bleeding and stayed with the girl until an ambulance arrived. 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. "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. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". Godfreys children watched as he climbed into his car, which was parked next to theirs, and drive away without a word to them. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. It was following Alfred's death in 1985 that Mrs Ryan began appearing at work with visible bruises, Mrs Jackson says. "He was a good man. 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. Rather than getting away from the carnage in South View, he started to check the houses to find and help the injured. Leaving school he embarked on a series of casual labouring jobs and was often unemployed. "The station was locked, so I let myself in with a key. "I didnt know the Masons at No. He wounded a further 15 before turning the gun on himself. 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. A former school friend remembers a teenage Ryan boasting of spying on and stalking people there. 13 - Victor Gibbs As the brothers were cleaning up, a reporter burst in. Besotted with the military, Ryan bought army jackets, survival gear and masks. Ambulances lined the main street. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. Flowers began arriving at the town hall, where the flag flew at half-mast. Dr Yardley says Ryan would have learned how to treat women from how his father treated his mother. George sped off on his motorcycle. "Theres no two ways about it. While Ryan roamed Hungerford, murdering and maiming people he'd known for years, a woman lay dead in Savernake Forest. 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. His victims included his own mother and police officer Roger Brereton - who was later posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. This had been Ryans first victim. Shotguns had to be registered and were required to be kept in secure storage. He believes Ryan would get an illicit sexual thrill during his woodland trips and obtain pleasure and a sense of accomplishment from following and watching people unseen. It was Jane, PC Wainwright's then-wife. Changing his mind, he retrieved it and carried on walking, away from town. 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 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. He sprayed their car with 11 bullets, Ivor Jackson was shot three times in the chest and once in the head and White was shot too, dying as their car smashed into the police car Ryan had shot at earlier. Meanwhile, a police officer had noticed Godfreys empty car with open doors and had gone to investigate. 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. He was John Storms, 49, a washing machine engineer who had been called out to Hungerford Park Farm on business. At 1.30 pm specially trained officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit were brought in and local police officers assembled closer to town. "I just thought: 'They dont want outsiders. 6 were already dead.". Ryan was a shy child with a keen interest in the military. An only child, Michael Robert Ryan was born on 18 May 1960 in the Savernake hospital, Hungerford. 19th August 1987. The gunman was reloading his weapon and Mrs Wainwright thought he would shoot at her again. 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. 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?". As Mr White turned his Toyota Crown into South View, he was shot in the head and died instantly. "What he did was the ultimate taking back of control. "It hit at the heart of my professionalism, of everything I'd ever done for the town. 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. He even persuaded the police to grant him a licence to own more powerful firearms. Pic: Daily Mail / Hungerford Massacre 1987. Armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and at least one. He adds that an overindulgent mother could also have led to Ryan never taking responsibility for his actions - a personality trait common to many spree killers. Driver, Linda Bright, immediately put the ambulance into reverse and retreated. Stop it, you stupid bugger!. He found low-paid work as a caretaker at a girls school. "Ivor has very limited mobility, and his lungs are damaged from the bullet. Marjorie Jackson recuperating in hospital in 1987, "I just thought to myself, I'm a mother. Instead she found Ryan, who shot her once. He died instantly from chest wounds. Ryan then shot at an ambulance, shattering its windscreen, as it was trying to reach some of the victims in a narrow lane. It was absolute panic stations. The beauty spot near Marlborough is a popular place with dog walkers, picnickers and ramblers. Write by: . He spied on them as they ate their picnic lunch, before playing a while. Ryan headed across the playing fields, still shooting. There was a terrible burning pain. For more stories of the worst people on earth, visit our . Ryan had murdered 16 people and seriously injured 15 more, but his whereabouts were unknown. He looked at her. [CDATA[// >