Police in action during a Gun siege in Hungerford, Berkshire. That summer afternoon Ryan, a 27-year-old unemployed labourer, killed 16 people . Saturday marks 30 years since Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. Ryan used a semi-automatic rifle, an M1 Carbine and a Beretta pistol to carry out a string of attacks in the village. They survived, although Alison still has a bullet inside her. For more stories of the worst people on earth, visit our . This seemed to fit the profile of Michael Ryan. Fifteen other people were also shot but survived. As smoke filled the air from Ryans burning house, more people were hiding inside their homes. 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. 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.". People later commented that his mental instability became increasingly apparent following the death of his father. "I assumed it had been some sort of accident with glass and that Lisa had been cut," she says. Police were still hunting for the gunman in their midst. The week before the shootings he had helped Ryan bring a heavy cabinet down the stairs. 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. After some time, young Hannah unbuckled their seatbelts, so they could go in search of their mother. "There were no big wounds at the back of Lisa's legs. Later that night, the clear-up began. Ryan fired at helicopters from this window. "And I kept thinking, if it was true that I'd signed my dad's death warrant, it meant I'd also signed all those other people's too. His face, she says, was expressionless. The couple have been married for 60 years and celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in January. The Hungerford massacre occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, on August 19, 1987. It was the same school he had attended more than a decade before. But it appears she never contradicted him in public. She thinks he saw Mrs Godfrey and her children having a picnic and enjoying themselves. A groundsheet was found nearby, which could have been laid by Ryan in order to contain DNA evidence. All over Berkshire, the funerals that followed the massacre were deeply poignant. "It was just routine. 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. It seemed that whilst he was in the midst of a murderous rampage, he still felt the need to protect children. Michael Ryan : The Hungerford Massacre 152,574 views May 19, 2022 7.5K Dislike Share Save this is MONSTERS 539K subscribers Michael Ryan was a quiet loner when he was a kid, so he began. 20th August 1987. 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. People were frantic to get to their families to see if they were safe and unharmed. "I rushed back to check on Jane and on the way I saw smoke coming up from South View [a nearby street]. An only child, Michael Robert Ryan was born on 18 May 1960 in the Savernake hospital, Hungerford. "They were looking for bullet holes and spent shell cases to collect. Now, as his colleague, quantity surveyor George White, drove him home to check on his wife, they came across Ryan. Although many neighbours described Mr Ryan as a pleasant man, there were rumours he was especially strict with his son. He can barely speak about his friend, George White. 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. Ryans school friend remembers his mother would buy the boy whatever he wanted, but his father "couldnt be played" and "wore the trousers" in the house. Sharp, acrid and smoky.". "I was desperate to get into the house. 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. The popular weekly market attracted many people and was an event enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. The Jacksons remember him as being a model-railway enthusiast and "a lovely man who would help you with anything". Everyone remembers the silence. 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. 1 - Roland Mason She was still wearing it, soaked now with Lisa Mildenhall's blood, when she was finally allowed back home. Ryan approached, looked at him and shot him three times. Changing his mind, he retrieved it and carried on walking, away from town. His real passions were cars and guns. Why are you doing this?. I thought he'd come in and kill them.". Former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper is facing a midwifery misconduct hearing - three years after she confessed to trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. 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. In contrast, Dorothy Ryans funeral service, held at St Marys Church in Calne, Wiltshire, was only attended by 40 mourners. Another witness reported that Ryan warned several children to get off the street and go inside. Mrs Gibbs died several days later, in hospital. There was no way he would miss. Two days later, Mr Playle died from his injuries. Dean called both her husband and the 999 emergency services. Knowing his way around the streets, he had tried to drive home by another route. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryans weapons had been legally licenced. The local Hungerford police station was in the process of being renovated and had only two telephone lines working on that day. Ambulances lined the main street. The speed with which he carried out his agenda indicates an element of forethought. 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. Popular cab driver, Marcus Bernard, 30, was en route to visit his wife and newborn son in the local hospital. Ivor Jacksons wife, Marjorie, had called him whilst Ryan was aiming a gun at her. "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. Inside, PC Roger Brereton, a traffic officer who had volunteered to investigate, was slumped against the steering wheel, clearly dead. In the ambulance on the way to hospital in Swindon, Ivor Jackson's heart had twice stopped beating. I've never run so fast. "I told her he had tattoos, was about 6ft 1in and had grey hair. As the brothers were cleaning up, a reporter burst in. He took aim and killed her with a single bullet to the chest. But Ryan had moved. 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. Find Hungerford Michael Ryan stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. I should have said but I didnt want to worry anyone. Meanwhile, a police officer had noticed Godfreys empty car with open doors and had gone to investigate. Ryan stormed into the shop and again aimed his rifle at Dean. "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.". On 19 August 1987, the 27-year-old loner was in licensed possession of two shotguns, three pistols and two semi-automatic rifles. Stop it, you stupid bugger!. Marjorie Jackson recuperating in hospital in 1987, "I just thought to myself, I'm a mother. They were armed with .38 Smith and Wessons, which were no match for Ryans arsenal.Four and three quarter hours after the police had first been informed of Ryan, he was finally spotted at one of the schools third floor classroom windows at 5.26 pm. 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. On that day, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother. Lance Corporal Carl Harries, 21, a young off-duty soldier and veteran of the Falklands War, was on his way into town, to pick up a radiator hose, when he walked into the midst of the massacre. 19th August 1987. Then he shot himself. Later that day, his parents were driving up from their home in Kent to visit him. He cannot even pass the end of the road. 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?". Here he found Susan Godfrey, 33, an attractive, auburn-haired mother, with her children, Hannah, 4, and James, 2. The primary school where Marjorie Jackson was a caretaker had broken up for the summer holidays. He needed numerous operations and still suffers, both physically and mentally. "What he did was the ultimate taking back of control. Over the moon at the news of his father's survival, PC Wainwright telephoned his brothers and sister. "She'd just say she'd fallen over or something. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. "He certainly had no 'manifesto' or message to the world.". They flew the police helicopter past the window, but could not see in to the classroom. 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. Gunshots were often heard from Hungerford Common, at one end of South View. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. As Mr Playle rounded a bend in Priory Street, Ryan fired a single shot. 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. The mother-of-four, 38, from Kent . Yet another vehicle drove into the area and once again, Ryan shot at it, hitting the driver, shattering his jaw, bursting his tongue and missing his spinal cord by two millimetres. She told him someone was shooting across the back gardens of their road. "Then he shot her again, twice, in the back, from about four inches away.". No-one blamed me. Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. 11 - Eric Vardy Getty Images offers exclusive rights-ready and premium royalty-free analog, HD, and 4K video of the highest quality. 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. The Hoddle Street massacre was committed by a former soldier who wore combat fatigues. He uses it against the people he has grown up with and against the unarmed police that are called. "Writing the letter did me good, but I don't think it would have helped the people of Dunblane.". Gunman Michael Ryan shocked the country with his rampage around the quiet Berkshire town. He used his semi-automatic rifle to strafe the front door and open it. John O'Gaunt School in Hungerford, Berkshire, where Michael Robert Ryan committed suicide following the Hungerford Massacre, 8th September 1987. I later realised that was because the bullets were still in her. Despite the police helicopter hovering above him and telling him to lay down his weapons, Ryan merely walked away. Four houses, including Ryan's home at the far right, were later demolished. Whilst chatting to a work colleague, the subject of Michael Ryan and the 1987 Hungerford massacre came up. Their pictures were a grim account of the trail of destruction and death that Ryan had left in his wake. 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 said he could, and he said: 'When that man shot that man, all of the birds flew out of the trees and shat themselves'. 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. He says he was helped by a discovery made at the post-mortem examination - that his father had developed lung cancer. Ryan picked up the picnic groundsheet and ordered Susan to walk with him into the woods. "There was a picture of my dad, dead in a car with a blanket over him. The Hungerford Report The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. It was his gun cupboard. An only child, Michael Robert Ryan was born on 18 May 1960 in the Savernake hospital, Hungerford. The wheelchair-bound Myrtle was totally vulnerable and Victor threw himself across her to protect her from the crazed gunman. Near her body were two groups of German-made 9mm spent cartridges. 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. Eric Vardy, a carpenter and van driver for Norland Nursery College, was on his way with passenger, Steven Ball, to a builders supplier. He then shot her in the back with a Beretta pistol. But this did actually ring true. Say the name Hungerford and most people will associate the town with the events of Wednesday, 19 August, 1987. Ryan shot Lepetit twice in the arm and once in the back as he fled. If it comes up, he leaves the room or goes to sit in the greenhouse. The dust was flying up from the ground around my feet as the bullets hit. 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. At 17:25, Ryan threw a semi-automatic rifle from the classroom window. "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. 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. Close to tears, she toured the streets, met with the relatives and visited victims in hospital. It's difficult. 5 - Abdul Khan He got me in my lower back. "I knew Id been hit. A few moths before the massacre, Ryan joined the Tunnel Rifle and Pistol Club, in Wiltshire. What she found was houses on fire, people lying dead in their gardens and smashed cars lining the street. "I think she either refused to [have sex] or resisted," he said. 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. 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. But, he reasoned, it was his day off. Your dad's been shot. Maybe he was distracted; maybe he enjoyed the power of sparing Mrs Wainwright's life. Crossing the street, shooting as he went, Ryan strode towards 60 Priory Road, the home of Victor and Myrtle Gibbs and blasted open the front door with his semi-automatic rifle. 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. She parked behind Whites car and opening the door and looking in, said, Oh Ivor and then hurried up the road. Angela Wrightson: A chaotic life and brutal death. Dr Yardley says Ryan would have learned how to treat women from how his father treated his mother. She remembers Michael as quiet and polite. Typically, by the time people got through to the 999 system, Ryan had gone elsewhere. He expressed sorrow over shooting his mother and his dog, and then said: "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. 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. "The tourist buses would just park where they usually did and then people used to come up here on foot," Trevor Jackson says. She seemed more concerned about her trousers than her wounds. Ryan headed across the playing fields, still shooting. There was a police guard on the front door so he had sneaked through the garden and into the house through the back door. Michael Ryan: The Hungerford Massacre: Directed by Adam Luria. 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. 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. The result was police were often up to 40 minutes behind his movements. It was calculated that during the most intense period of Ryans rampage, he had killed an average of one person per minute. Every single time.". They'll do what we did. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. It banned the ownership of semi-automatic firearms and pump-action weapons and made registration mandatory for shotgun owners. Here he shot her 13 times, dropped the groundsheet and returned to parking area. Shotguns had to be registered and were required to be kept in secure storage. Over 20 mass shootings have occurred in the US since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. 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. He took the firearms, packed the pockets of his flak jacket with ammunition and marched off down the road. The police officers at the scene did not apprehend him at this point, as they were unarmed. His wife, who had a bullet in her spine, was not expected to walk again. And she said I'm really sorry. He explained who he was and his experience, and offered sympathy. 33 years ago today, a sleepy Berkshire town was rocked by one of the most shocking mass shootings ever seen in the UK. 2 - Sheila Mason Wearing camouflage outfits, he enjoyed sneaking up on picnickers and watching them without their knowledge, before disappearing again. Witnesses report that at this point, Ryan seemed disgusted with the rifle and threw it onto the ground. South View became a popular haunt for tourists. It's testament to her own strength of mind that she did. "In fact, I first thought it was another lad who lived there. 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,. Linda was hit in the shoulder and Alison in the right thigh. 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. AETNUK All Rights Reserved. "It was a happy occasion and I think he felt resentful and victimised and wanted to seize control. He took it seriously.". [CDATA[// >