I knew I had to be the strong one of the family, I knew Ivor wouldn't cope.". 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. I was on the floor. Sandra Hill, was shot while driving; Jack and Myrtle Gibbs, were shot in their home in Priory Road; and Ian Playle was shot while driving into Hungerford on a shopping trip with his wife and two children. He carried on, shooting Mrs Godfrey 13 times until he ran out of ammunition. 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. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. I knew I had to help.". He was John Storms, 49, a washing machine engineer who had been called out to Hungerford Park Farm on business. The primary school where Marjorie Jackson was a caretaker had broken up for the summer holidays. South View became a popular haunt for tourists. Ryan approached, looked at him and shot him three times. Still shooting, Ryan then walked to the end of the road, went along a footpath and made his way across some playing fields. In a small village 60 miles west of London, at 12:30 in the afternoon, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shoots a mother dead. Prof Craig Jackson, a psychologist who specialises in spree killers, thinks there was also a sexual motive. He used his semi-automatic rifle to strafe the front door and open it. Mark Howe murdered his mother Katrina Wardle in a brutal knife attack. This time, close-up. 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. It was during this time that he lost his caretaker job. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. "I assumed it had been some sort of accident with glass and that Lisa had been cut," she says. 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. Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. He can barely speak about his friend, George White. Ryan shot at her, making a hole in the side window. It is known that he made her put her son and daughter, aged two and four, in her car. ]]> 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. The birds didn't sing again for five days.". George sped off on his motorcycle. He expressed sorrow over shooting his mother and his dog, and then said: "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. An only child, Michael Robert Ryan was born on 18 May 1960 in the Savernake hospital, Hungerford. On 19 August 1987, gunman Michael Ryan went on the rampage in the small town of Hungerford. Ryan then shot at an ambulance, shattering its windscreen, as it was trying to reach some of the victims in a narrow lane. But this did actually ring true. Fifteen other people were also shot but survived. About half an hour later, Mrs Roland-Clarke called him to the telephone. Just after midday, on 19 August 1987, the 27-year-old unemployed Ryan entered a secluded area of Savernake Forest. Besotted with the military, Ryan bought army jackets, survival gear and masks. Unfortunately, the bullet travelled up into Alisons lower back, leaving her permanently disabled. "The station was locked, so I let myself in with a key. Police in action during a Gun siege in Hungerford, Berkshire. Back at the police station, PC Wainwright was told his mother had been taken to hospital in Swindon. It was market day in Hungerford, a balmy Wednesday, 19 August 1987. Wouldn't hurt a fly.". 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. Seven minutes after saying this, at 18:52, he shot himself in the head. Ryan looked at her with extremely vacant eyes and a strange grin, before moving off eastwards along a footpath leading to Hungerford Common. Why are you doing this?. It was a police vehicle which had its blue lights flashing. It was one of the worst mass shootings in British history. 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. After the murders, the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 was passed following a report commissioned by then-Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. The couple have been married for 60 years and celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in January. They keep meaning to frame it and put it up on the wall. Over 20 mass shootings have occurred in the US since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. "There was a picture of my dad, dead in a car with a blanket over him. 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. One man was injured. Ryan picked up the picnic groundsheet and ordered Susan to walk with him into the woods. Having murdered Mrs Godfrey, Ryan headed back to Hungerford in his Vauxhall Astra GTE, stopping at Froxfield filling station. Sandra Hill, who'd moved away from the town, was visiting former school friends. A few moths before the massacre, Ryan joined the Tunnel Rifle and Pistol Club, in Wiltshire. What happened to the Hatton Garden burglars? ", Kathleen Wainwright later moved to Hungerford to be near her son. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". Another witness reported that Ryan warned several children to get off the street and go inside. The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 was passed in the wake of the massacre. Having failed to kill Dean, Ryan quickly returned to his car and drove off towards Hungerford. He threw his Kalashnikov out of the window, leaving him with only his 9mm Beretta and ammunition. Mrs Godfrey was killed at about 12:30 BST and Mrs Dean was shot at just five minutes later at the petrol station. Were just waiting until life gets back to normal. Classmates remember he was quiet, seemed shy, "kept himself to himself" and was keen on the military. Marjorie Jackson recuperating in hospital in 1987, "I just thought to myself, I'm a mother. Every single time.". Ambulance driver Hazel Haslett arrived minutes later. 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. 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. Ryan immediately turned to Alan Lepetit, a coalman who had helped install the Chubb steel cabinet for Ryans firearm collection. Police were still hunting for the gunman in their midst. 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. 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. 7 - Dorothy Ryan After some time, young Hannah unbuckled their seatbelts, so they could go in search of their mother. The Jacksons remember him as being a model-railway enthusiast and "a lovely man who would help you with anything". A former school friend remembers a teenage Ryan boasting of spying on and stalking people there. 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. There was no way he would miss. The popular weekly market attracted many people and was an event enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Semi-automatic rifles Ryan used during his rampage. 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. "It hit at the heart of my professionalism, of everything I'd ever done for the town. The young policeman wondered whether he should see if he could do anything to help. Residents of the area were becoming increasingly worried as they continued to call for emergency help and none arrived. Over the moon at the news of his father's survival, PC Wainwright telephoned his brothers and sister. Popular cab driver, Marcus Bernard, 30, was en route to visit his wife and newborn son in the local hospital. Your dad's been shot. "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. There was a police guard on the front door so he had sneaked through the garden and into the house through the back door. The town had long been a tourist destination. He is still haunted, he says, by the photograph of his father dead in his car. Fifteen vehicles were taken away for forensic examination. 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. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. 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. Sharp, acrid and smoky.". People were frantic to get to their families to see if they were safe and unharmed. 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. A police negotiator managed to engage him in conversation. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of Terms and Conditions. Then she phoned the building firm where her husband Ivor was a bricklayer, and asked for a message to be passed on. George White was driving Ivor Jackson back from work. "As soon as there's been a shooting, some journalist will call. I saw Robert Clements hed been walking the dog with his dad, Ken, and just witnessed him shot dead in South View. She recognised him as a regular customer at the petrol station, but not a chatty or friendly one. 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. Maybe he was distracted; maybe he enjoyed the power of sparing Mrs Wainwright's life. When PC Wainwright heard it was Michael Ryan from South View, he couldn't put a face to the name. He even persuaded the police to grant him a licence to own more powerful firearms. A fellow park visitor, Myra Rose, found the children wandering around and they told her their mother had been shot. Both recreational and agricultural shooting were normal occurrences in the area. "I think she either refused to [have sex] or resisted," he said. Then the radio announced the names of some of the people whod been shot, but didn't say if they were dead or alive. He claimed he had been taken under the wing of a retired colonel who was going to buy him a house and a Ferrari. They survived, although Alison still has a bullet inside her. Cash and cheques poured in from well-wishers, some even from children, and a Tragedy Fund was established, in collaboration with Lloyds TSB, Barclays and NatWest, the three banks in Hungerford. "I just started to run. His real passions were cars and guns. After the murders, though, visitors were less satisfied by remaining in the attractive main street. Either way, he turned away. 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. 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. The woman did not believe them at first but agreed to help them find her. The case of Michael Ryan, who went on a killing spree in the small town of Hungerford, resulting in the murder of 16 people, including his own mother. I could smell cordite in the air. She said: 'Oh no Ivor, not you.'". I thought I was safe.". At 17:25, Ryan threw a semi-automatic rifle from the classroom window. 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. 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. 9 - Marcus Barnard Hungerford. Ryan headed across the playing fields, still shooting. Former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper is facing a midwifery misconduct hearing - three years after she confessed to trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. "After what happened, lots of people split up," says Ivor Jackson. She was still wearing it, soaked now with Lisa Mildenhall's blood, when she was finally allowed back home. 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. They were unable to refuse him as he had no record of mental instability and no criminal record. The dust was flying up from the ground around my feet as the bullets hit. Ryan also killed his family dog and set fire to his house. The local police station had only two working phone lines that day and the police helicopter was being repaired, delaying its deployment. Mrs Jackson had known Ryan all of his life. She shouted at him, saying, Is that you making that noise? The local Hungerford police station was in the process of being renovated and had only two telephone lines working on that day. "Then he shot her again, twice, in the back, from about four inches away.". 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. Then the nurse came back. Mayor Tarry claimed it to be the day on which life in the town could begin once more. On the sunny afternoon of August 19th, 1987, it was market day in Hungerford and Ryan went to Saverneck forest - a place he would often go to shoot his gun and sneak up on unsuspecting. This Wednesday was no different, with the schools on holiday, many people were taking advantage of the good weather. 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. Eric Vardy, a carpenter and van driver for Norland Nursery College, was on his way with passenger, Steven Ball, to a builders supplier. "I was desperate to get into the house. hungerford massacre photos. The mother-of-four, 38, from Kent . ", Trevor Wainwright still lives in Hungerford. 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. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryans weapons had been legally licenced. Ryan fired at helicopters from this window. "She'd just say she'd fallen over or something. The beauty spot near Marlborough is a popular place with dog walkers, picnickers and ramblers. "Theres no two ways about it. Plot summary Add synopsis Genres Documentary 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. What happened in the woods is the clue to why the shootings happened, Prof Jackson believes. Amongst others also later commended for their bravery were ambulance-women Hazel Haslett and Linda Bright, who had been shot at by Ryan but who had continued working selflessly late into the night to help other victims.It was reported in the tabloid newspapers that following the public announcement of Ryans death, the people of Hungerford reacted with relieved delight. 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