Prof Craig Jackson, a psychologist who specialises in spree killers, thinks there was also a sexual motive. 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 took no heed of her pleas and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Their car smashed into the back of another car. Eric Vardy, a carpenter and van driver for Norland Nursery College, was on his way with passenger, Steven Ball, to a builders supplier. Ryan intimated he might be prepared to give himself up. Dorothy then saw her son with a gun in his hand and called to him, saying, Stop Michael. With blood running down his face, he could only watch through half-closed eyes as Dorothy Ryan, Michaels mother, arrived home from the Wednesday market. He carried on, shooting Mrs Godfrey 13 times until he ran out of ammunition. "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.". The Hungerford Massacre was a spree shooting that took place in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on August 19, 1987. At about 16:45, police entered the playground. 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. 3 - Kenneth Clements 7 - Dorothy Ryan She seemed more concerned about her trousers than her wounds. At 1.30 pm specially trained officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit were brought in and local police officers assembled closer to town. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. Whilst people did recognise that she was a victim, Canon John Reynolds, who conducted the service, selected not to mention her son and only made a brief reference to the Hungerford massacre. He wounded a further 15 before turning the gun on himself. Thirty years since the Hungerford tragedy. Ryan was a shy child with a keen interest in the military. Adding to the sound of gunfire in the area was the fact that the Thames Valley firearms squad were in training, about 40 miles away. As the brothers were cleaning up, a reporter burst in. Ryan broke into the Gibbs' house on Priory Road. He would insist on lying down on the back seat of the car if we ever went out, so he couldn't be seen. "The tourist buses would just park where they usually did and then people used to come up here on foot," Trevor Jackson says. People came to buy goods, eat in the restaurants and stay at the inns. 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. He headed straight there and was greeted by a nurse who said Kathleen was fine and Douglas was in the operating theatre. Armed with three guns, he had already murdered six people and seriously injured seven more. "It was just routine. Besotted with the military, Ryan bought army jackets, survival gear and masks. Emerging from the house, dressed in a headband and sleeveless flak jacket, Ryan carried a bag filled with food and other supplies. "It's funny, I've killed all those people but I don't have the guts to blow my own brains out.". 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. Victims were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon. 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. 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. 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. The smiling Ryan shot 11 rounds from his semi-automatic at another car that drove into the street. With her window open and radio on in her Renault 5, she became Ryans 13th murder victim, dying from a single shot. Wouldn't hurt a fly.". The town had long been a tourist destination. As Mr Playle rounded a bend in Priory Street, Ryan fired a single shot. "We cope by taking every day as it comes. S02:E04 - Peter Sutcliffe - the Yorkshire Ripper. He uses it against the people he has grown up with and against the unarmed police that are called. Alan Lepetit, Mrs Whiting's brother, was a neighbour of Ryan's, living in South View. The report also said the operation was hampered by press helicopters making so much noise it was difficult for police on the ground to hear or relay instructions. "I assumed it had been some sort of accident with glass and that Lisa had been cut," she says. "Then he shot her again, twice, in the back, from about four inches away.". 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. Its inhabitants refer to the shooting as "The Tragedy", almost as if it were a natural disaster. I mean, there's no legitimate reason anyone would need to have a Kalashnikov - but it was legal. What she found was houses on fire, people lying dead in their gardens and smashed cars lining the street. Unfortunately, the bullet travelled up into Alisons lower back, leaving her permanently disabled. She had been at work in Hungerford when the news about the shootings came on the radio. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. I was due to go and visit her, but I thought I couldn't. 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. When he slowed down to see what was happening, Ryan shot him in the head with the AK-47 and he died instantly. Dr Yardley says Ryan would have learned how to treat women from how his father treated his mother. "We got a letter from the Queen," Mr Jackson adds. Policemen. Popular cab driver, Marcus Bernard, 30, was en route to visit his wife and newborn son in the local hospital. At 6.45 pm he said, Its funny, I killed all those people but I havent got the guts to blow my own brains out. ", Kathleen Wainwright later moved to Hungerford to be near her son. Mrs Godfrey was killed at about 12:30 BST and Mrs Dean was shot at just five minutes later at the petrol station. 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. Prof Jackson's colleague at Birmingham City University, Dr Elizabeth Yardley, has a different theory. Shortly after midday, Michael Ryan had approached Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking in nearby Savernake Forest. A few moths before the massacre, Ryan joined the Tunnel Rifle and Pistol Club, in Wiltshire. The Housing Department of Newbury District Council made accommodation available for those residents of South View who found themselves homeless after the fires Ryan had started. "When you work for the ambulance service, you do your best to help people," Mr Whiting says. Michael Ryan : The Hungerford Massacre. He says he was helped by a discovery made at the post-mortem examination - that his father had developed lung cancer. 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. ", Trevor Wainwright still lives in Hungerford. Their pictures were a grim account of the trail of destruction and death that Ryan had left in his wake. The young policeman wondered whether he should see if he could do anything to help. It was market day in Hungerford, a balmy Wednesday, 19 August 1987. 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. Healthwise, we're struggling. Mrs Gibbs died several days later, in hospital. Gunman Michael Ryan shocked the country with his rampage around the quiet Berkshire town. Mrs Jackson can remember Mrs Ryan telling her about a mysterious "friend" Michael had made. "Perhaps he killed her in panic when she attempted to run away.". 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 later died of shock and haemorrhage from the bullet wound to his neck. They usually hang up if a journalist approaches them and refuse to have their photograph taken in connection with the shooting. "'Some blokes gone mad with a gun', they said. He took the firearms, packed the pockets of his flak jacket with ammunition and marched off down the road. Find professional Hungerford Michael Ryan videos and stock footage available for license in film, television, advertising and corporate uses. Witnesses report that at this point, Ryan seemed disgusted with the rifle and threw it onto the ground. He had a few friends but always shied away from any sporting or social events at school. "[Mr Ryan] was quite the bully. 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 It was calculated that during the most intense period of Ryans rampage, he had killed an average of one person per minute. Another reporter followed their sister home from the hospital. 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. The final shooting took place at about 13:45. 19th August 1987. 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. Although many neighbours described Mr Ryan as a pleasant man, there were rumours he was especially strict with his son. 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. Mildenhall survived the shooting.Kenneth Clements was walking along the footpath with his family, towards South View, when Ryan appeared and shot him once, killing him instantly. The help will come from within the community'. 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. Sixteen people were killed and 15 more were seriously injured in what was the UK's worst mass. He then shot her in the back with a Beretta pistol. In his right hand, tied to his wrist with a bootlace, was his Beretta pistol. He found low-paid work as a caretaker at a girls school. He threw his Kalashnikov out of the window, leaving him with only his 9mm Beretta and ammunition. "There was a picture of my dad, dead in a car with a blanket over him. I knew I had to be the strong one of the family, I knew Ivor wouldn't cope.". Close to tears, she toured the streets, met with the relatives and visited victims in hospital. "He was as good as gold. Ryan approached, looked at him and shot him three times. It was following Alfred's death in 1985 that Mrs Ryan began appearing at work with visible bruises, Mrs Jackson says. Then the nurse came back. He tried pulling the trigger twice more, but both times the rifle failed to fire. Either way, the mourning period for an entire town was still to be endured.The Reverend David Salt received countless communications of support and offers of help poured in to the Hungerford vicarage. 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. Fifteen vehicles were taken away for forensic examination. It also transpired that there were several unfortunate incidents encumbering the response by the police and other emergency services to the events on 19 August 1987. Then she phoned the building firm where her husband Ivor was a bricklayer, and asked for a message to be passed on. People were said to have run into the streets chanting, The bastards dead, the bastards dead, whilst children cycled around on their bikes, yelling Good riddance, and people in pubs toasted his death. 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. Classmates remember he was quiet, seemed shy, "kept himself to himself" and was keen on the military. 9 - Marcus Barnard He continually asked about his mother and how she was. 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. On that day, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother. He then asked the time and was silent for a while. Seventy-eight bullet holes were found. "He used to wear camouflage gear, that sort of thing. Lucy Robson Height, Articles M