Brereton was hit by four of the bullets and died in his car. He got me in my lower back. The phone lines were inundated with people trying to call police - journalists were taking up many of the lines - and the police radio system, which only had three channels, was similarly overloaded. 7 - Dorothy Ryan Michael Ryan: The Hungerford Massacre: Directed by Adam Luria. Prof Jackson's colleague at Birmingham City University, Dr Elizabeth Yardley, has a different theory. 19th August 1987. Ryan's mother Dorothy was shot not far from her home in South View as she pleaded with her son to stop the shooting. 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. "My daughter arranged it. 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. Having created a fort for himself in the Gibbs home, Ryan fired at neighbouring houses, injuring a man at number 62 and a woman at number 67 Priory Road.Ian Playle, a 34-year-old clerk to the Justices at Newbury Magistrates Court, had brought his wife, Elizabeth, and their two young children, Richard and Sarah, to Hungerford on a shopping trip. Emerging from the house, dressed in a headband and sleeveless flak jacket, Ryan carried a bag filled with food and other supplies. After some time, young Hannah unbuckled their seatbelts, so they could go in search of their mother. Dorothy Ryan, Michaels mother, was a lunchtime supervisor at the primary school where Mrs Jackson worked. As they drove down Priory Road, Ryan shot at their car and Playle died from a single bullet wound to the neck from the Beretta. A groundsheet was found nearby, which could have been laid by Ryan in order to contain DNA evidence. It was about 10 minutes since Mrs Jackson had asked her husband to return home and the two men had no idea of the danger into which they were heading. At about 02:00 she looked out of the window and saw the bodies from South View being collected and driven away. Ryan hadnt stopped there, though. 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). "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. Another reporter followed their sister home from the hospital. 33 years ago today, a sleepy Berkshire town was rocked by one of the most shocking mass shootings ever seen in the UK. Dr Yardley says Ryan would have learned how to treat women from how his father treated his mother. 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. "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. It was absolute panic stations. "At the hospital, where my mum was, everyone who'd been shot had been put into the same ward. Michael used to play at Mrs Jackson's home with one of her sons. They'll do what we did. Mrs Jackson had known Ryan all of his life. 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. "What he did was the ultimate taking back of control. Saturday marks 30 years since Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. "We cope by taking every day as it comes. He ordered her to put her children in the car, which she did immediately, strapping them in and telling them to wait there for her, that she would be back soon. Luckily she hadn't been injured. The speed with which he carried out his agenda indicates an element of forethought. When Ryan was old enough, he purchased a shotgun and began to collect other weapons, which he proudly displayed in a glass cabinet in his bedroom. Whenever they asked me where it all happened I'd say it was down the A4. Whether or not these were completely accurate accounts, they certainly encapsulated the emotion of relief foremost in peoples minds immediately after the massacre that the carnage was finally over. As Mr White turned his Toyota Crown into South View, he was shot in the head and died instantly. Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher interrupted her Cornish holiday to visit Hungerford. His wife, who had a bullet in her spine, was not expected to walk again. Then he and his brother Peter went into their home, released the dogs from the cupboard, and started to clean the blood and glass from their kitchen. But, he reasoned, it was his day off. That's not him. But how did the town heal its wounds? Despite the police helicopter hovering above him and telling him to lay down his weapons, Ryan merely walked away. "I didnt know the Masons at No. His wife and children were unhurt. 8 - Francis Butler 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. Alfred Ryan, Michael's father, had become a parent in his mid-50s and was about 20 years older than Dorothy. A few doors down, a 14-year-old girl was staring at her legs. Paying no attention to the police or the press, Ryan seemed oblivious to anything other than his hell-bent mission to kill everyone in his path. Ryan was finally cornered and an armed officer trained his sights on him. Ryan was well-known for driving "like a bat out of hell" - the only time he had been in trouble with the police was for breaking the speed limit. He's dead. "He used to wear camouflage gear, that sort of thing. 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. George sped off on his motorcycle. "'Some blokes gone mad with a gun', they said. 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. 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. "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.". The Hungerford massacre occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, on August 19, 1987. As he approached a playground near Bulpit Lane he shot and killed dog walker Francis Butler. Its inhabitants refer to the shooting as "The Tragedy", almost as if it were a natural disaster. The teenager was still standing up when Mrs Pascoe arrived to help her. Dean called both her husband and the 999 emergency services. The press helicopters were in the way of police trying to track Ryan and this allowed him to get away again. Julian Knight killed seven people in Melbourne. The police were not certain if Ryan had shot himself or just fired off a round. All I could think of was the dogs. He took it seriously.". Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. Police surrounded the school building and Brightwell worked to establish communication with Ryan and ultimately to persuade him to surrender. It later transpired that he had shot the family dog, a black Labrador. 4 - PC Roger Brereton 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. Near her body were two groups of German-made 9mm spent cartridges. 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. 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 was making his way to a part-time gardening job in the nearby village of Inkpen. She recognised him as a regular customer at the petrol station, but not a chatty or friendly one. The Hungerford Report The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. 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. Mrs Gibbs died several days later, in hospital. Dr Gregory Moffat, a childhood aggression specialist, claimed that victims of bullying are generally small, weak, lack confidence and are loners. As they drove up Tarrants Hill, their windscreen was shattered by a spray of bullets and Vardy was hit twice, under the chin and in the torso. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". Leaving school he embarked on a series of casual labouring jobs and was often unemployed. Marcus Barnard, a local taxi driver, had been a father for just five weeks when he was shot dead. hungerford massacre photos. AETNUK All Rights Reserved. I could see her hip bone.". She ducked below her counter just as a bullet pierced the safety glass above it and ricocheted through the small shop behind her. A former school friend remembers a teenage Ryan boasting of spying on and stalking people there. 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. Ryan then walked into Priory Road, where he found Sandra Hill, 22, driving her red Renault 5, with the window down and the music blaring. Ryan looked at her with extremely vacant eyes and a strange grin, before moving off eastwards along a footpath leading to Hungerford Common. When PC Wainwright heard it was Michael Ryan from South View, he couldn't put a face to the name. The Jacksons had loved their home on South View, with its large garden, and were in the process of buying it. I still get dreadful pain in my back. He liked to think of himself as a soldier, skilled at surveillance without being seen himself. However, they stipulated that Ryan install a suitable Chubb steel cabinet in which to safely lock his weapons. Find out how you can get the latest news from BerkshireLive delivered straight to your inbox. Whether Mrs Ryan truly believed her son's imaginings is impossible to tell. What happened in the woods is the clue to why the shootings happened, Prof Jackson believes. In the neighbouring forest he found Godfreys body, about 250 feet from her car. The result was police were often up to 40 minutes behind his movements. 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. "He was dead after all. People later commented that his mental instability became increasingly apparent following the death of his father. Ryan intimated he might be prepared to give himself up. The dust was flying up from the ground around my feet as the bullets hit. She had been at work in Hungerford when the news about the shootings came on the radio. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. Terrified, crying and huddled against the wall, she begged him not to kill her. The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. People were frantic to get to their families to see if they were safe and unharmed. There was a police guard on the front door so he had sneaked through the garden and into the house through the back door. In contrast, Dorothy Ryans funeral service, held at St Marys Church in Calne, Wiltshire, was only attended by 40 mourners. Read about our approach to external linking. The sense of disbelief and shock still reverberate across the nation, 25 years later, Looking back at the two most shocking gun massacres in British history. An investigation after the shootings found both Dorothy and Michael Ryan had been overdrawn on their bank accounts - in Dorothy's case largely because she bought her only child a new car every two years. Prof Jackson says it was at this point Ryan changed his plans. But she wasn't. "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. 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. 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. 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