"There were no big wounds at the back of Lisa's legs. Now, he added a new dimension. Ryan then abandoned his M1 carbine in the Memorial Gardens. 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. She knew her husband was dead. The press helicopters were in the way of police trying to track Ryan and this allowed him to get away again. AETNUK All Rights Reserved. "We got a letter from the Queen," Mr Jackson adds. He returned to South View to find bodies on the ground and was asked by police to identify them. Knowing his way around the streets, he had tried to drive home by another route. It wasnt long before investigators discovered, via ballistics analysis, that her death was connected to those that happened subsequently in Hungerford that afternoon. It was absolute panic stations. 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. I could see her hip bone.". Still shooting, Ryan then walked to the end of the road, went along a footpath and made his way across some playing fields. "Ivor has very limited mobility, and his lungs are damaged from the bullet. 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. But, he reasoned, it was his day off. The incident prompted the government to change gun laws, banning semi-automatic and pump-action rifles. He explained who he was and his experience, and offered sympathy. Their pictures were a grim account of the trail of destruction and death that Ryan had left in his wake. At 1.30 pm specially trained officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit were brought in and local police officers assembled closer to town. 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. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited the village on Thursday, August 20, 1987, the day after the shooting, to pay her condolences. ", PC Roger Brereton's funeral was held near Newbury. Ryan, who was heavily armed, forced 33-year-old Susan Godfrey, who was on a picnic with her children, to put them in her car and Scenes in Hungerford, Berkshire, following a gun siege in the town the day before, the event became known as the Hungerford massacre, pictured is the. "It was a massacre," she says. Ryan immediately turned to Alan Lepetit, a coalman who had helped install the Chubb steel cabinet for Ryans firearm collection. What happened in the woods is the clue to why the shootings happened, Prof Jackson believes. 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. His face, she says, was expressionless. Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attacking seven other women. She had been to check on the building, which was just the other side of the street from her South View home, and was returning to her house for lunch when a springer spaniel ran past. "The station was locked, so I let myself in with a key. 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. I thought I was safe.". The week before the shootings he had helped Ryan bring a heavy cabinet down the stairs. 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. Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher interrupted her Cornish holiday to visit Hungerford. He then carries on killing with his legally purchased and licensed Kalashnikov capable of killing at 300 yards. "He was trapped and didn't have a viable way out of his situation.". Mrs Jackson noticed he was holding a gun in each hand. He noticed the blue flashing light on the police car and decided to stroll up to ask the officer what was going on. Watched by neighbours, he went into the house and muffled shots were heard. "I just started to run. Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. Either way, he turned away. He threw his Kalashnikov out of the window, leaving him with only his 9mm Beretta and ammunition. If there is a shooting elsewhere in the world, he braces himself for his phone to ring. It later transpired that he had shot the family dog, a black Labrador. Shortly after midday, Michael Ryan had approached Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking in nearby Savernake Forest. I could smell cordite in the air. The result was police were often up to 40 minutes behind his movements. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. Mr Playle's blue Ford Sierra crashed after he was shot by Ryan. The birds didn't sing again for five days.". Mrs Pascoe, safe with her neighbours in a community centre, was playing cards with the children to distract them from the horror outside. It is known that he made her put her son and daughter, aged two and four, in her car. 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. I still get dreadful pain in my back. "When you work for the ambulance service, you do your best to help people," Mr Whiting says. Here he shot her 13 times, dropped the groundsheet and returned to parking area. 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. The teenager was still standing up when Mrs Pascoe arrived to help her. The Hungerford massacre occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, on August 19, 1987. I need to get better and I will walk again. A groundsheet was found nearby, which could have been laid by Ryan in order to contain DNA evidence. 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. Access was blocked for the fire engine called to deal with the fire Ryan had started in his own home and which had already spread to three neighbouring properties. Pathologists determined she was killed by the first three bullets. At about 02:00 she looked out of the window and saw the bodies from South View being collected and driven away. Marcus Barnard, a local taxi driver, had been a father for just five weeks when he was shot dead. Marching her away from her two young children, he shot her 13 times in the back. "Theres no two ways about it. 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. His wife, who had a bullet in her spine, was not expected to walk again. 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. On 19 August 1987, gunman Michael Ryan went on the rampage in the small town of Hungerford. The couple have been married for 60 years and celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in January. The wheelchair-bound Myrtle was totally vulnerable and Victor threw himself across her to protect her from the crazed gunman. He also knew the day would end in the loss of his own life, so in effect he was choosing when to die.". She told him someone was shooting across the back gardens of their road. A few moths before the massacre, Ryan joined the Tunnel Rifle and Pistol Club, in Wiltshire. 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. You are frightening everybody to death. I knew I had to help.". Susan Godfrey was shot dead in Savernake Forest. Trevor Wainwright says he is "haunted" by his father's death. 6 were already dead.". By the time Dean looked back at him, he had assumed a shooting position, with the rifle aimed directly at her. Police were still hunting for the gunman in their midst. The investigation into Mrs Godfrey's death found she had not been raped. The popular weekly market attracted many people and was an event enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. "After what happened, lots of people split up," says Ivor Jackson. 19th August 1987. When Michael Ryan went on a killing spree in Hungerford in 1987, the news - like last week's shootings in Cumbria - shocked the country. Armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and at least one. As Mr Playle rounded a bend in Priory Street, Ryan fired a single shot. Ryan fired at them and Victor died instantly, whilst Myrtle died later in hospital. This powerful mix of emotions is often later expressed in an inappropriately violent response. 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. 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. But we've stuck by each other.". Emerging from the house, dressed in a headband and sleeveless flak jacket, Ryan carried a bag filled with food and other supplies. He subscribed to magazines on survival skills and guns, including Soldiers of Fortune, and was a fan of violent films such as Rambo: First Blood (1982). They keep meaning to frame it and put it up on the wall. Ryan also killed his family dog and set fire to his house. The day before, on 19 August 1987, Michael Ryan, a 27-year-old Hungerford man, drove to nearby Savernake Forest and shot dead Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking with her two young children,. 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. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryans weapons had been legally licenced. They lived a few doors from each other and their families were friends. Unfortunately, the bullet travelled up into Alisons lower back, leaving her permanently disabled. 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.. Because Ryan burned down his home, any evidence of planning was destroyed. "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. At the time, the idea crucified me. Ivor Jacksons wife, Marjorie, had called him whilst Ryan was aiming a gun at her. One man was injured. 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. The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. He walked up to where she lay in the road and, with the gun only four inches from her, shot her twice in the back, killing her. Ryan has also been documented on internet sites devoted to mass murder. Gunshots were often heard from Hungerford Common, at one end of South View. "What he did was the ultimate taking back of control. ", Several of Derek and Mary Whiting's relatives were shot. He can barely speak about his friend, George White. The Hungerford Massacre was a spree shooting that took place in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on August 19, 1987. It's testament to her own strength of mind that she did. 14 - Myrtle Gibbs Then he tore his heartfelt letter up. The Hungerford Massacre on August 19, 1987, saw 16 people killed in a rampage by gunman Michael Ryan. Another, Eric Vardy, was killed. Over 20 mass shootings have occurred in the US since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. One of the Tactical Firearms Unit climbed onto the school roof and with a mirror on a long pole, managed to see into the classroom at last. She remembers Michael as quiet and polite. Michael Ryan The Hungerford massacre was a series of random shootings in Hungerford, Berkshire, on 19 August 1987, when Michael Robert Ryan, an unemployed part-time antique dealer and handyman, fatally shot 16 people, including his own mother, before committing suicide. At another point, close to the end, he said, I wish I had stayed in bed. 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. 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. In 1987, Michael Ryan committed a killing spree that left sixteen dead and sixteen injured. 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. Dorothy Ryan, Michaels mother, was a lunchtime supervisor at the primary school where Mrs Jackson worked. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". "It was just routine. 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. Getty Images offers exclusive rights-ready and premium royalty-free analog, HD, and 4K video of the highest quality. Thirty years later, the events of that day are rarely discussed by those affected. [CDATA[// >
