When, in March 1996 Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in the Stirling town of Dunblane, Trevor Wainwright decided to write to the Scottish police. Two days later, Mr Playle died from his injuries. 5 - Abdul Khan He had a few friends but always shied away from any sporting or social events at school. They keep meaning to frame it and put it up on the wall. Write by: . She scrambled into her house, where she collapsed and her mother immediately called an ambulance. 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. Dean called both her husband and the 999 emergency services. A groundsheet was found nearby, which could have been laid by Ryan in order to contain DNA evidence. His face, she says, was expressionless. Typically, by the time people got through to the 999 system, Ryan had gone elsewhere. Mrs Jackson can remember Mrs Ryan telling her about a mysterious "friend" Michael had made. Then he realised the policemans wounds had not been caused by a shotgun but by a semi-automatic rifle. I was on the floor. 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. Unfortunately, the bullet travelled up into Alisons lower back, leaving her permanently disabled. While Ryan roamed Hungerford, murdering and maiming people he'd known for years, a woman lay dead in Savernake Forest. "I didnt know by doing that, by asking him to come home, I was just leading them both into danger.". Both recreational and agricultural shooting were normal occurrences in the area. Michael Ryan : The Hungerford Massacre. On that day, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother. Dr Yardley believes Ryan was attempting to wrest some sort of control from society. Mrs Pascoe, safe with her neighbours in a community centre, was playing cards with the children to distract them from the horror outside. Everyone remembers the silence. Hungerford is a pretty canalside town famous for its antiques shops and upmarket boutiques. During the next 90 minutes, Brightwell and Ryan held a long and detailed conversation, during which Ryan seemed quite lucid, calm and easy to talk to. 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. Every single time.". Rather than getting away from the carnage in South View, he started to check the houses to find and help the injured. It was following Alfred's death in 1985 that Mrs Ryan began appearing at work with visible bruises, Mrs Jackson says. Lepetit had heard about shooting in his neighbourhood and was hurrying home to check on his family. Ryan was finally cornered and an armed officer trained his sights on him. Two more vehicles driving along the road were shot at. 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. Ryan stormed into the shop and again aimed his rifle at Dean. "I just started to run. Moving closer, he noticed the rear window of the police car had been shot out. As the brothers were cleaning up, a reporter burst in. He headed straight there and was greeted by a nurse who said Kathleen was fine and Douglas was in the operating theatre. People were sheltering in doorways and I pulled up and asked what was going on. Ryan had holed himself up in a second-floor classroom and was shooting through the window at both police and press helicopters. His wife and children had been in the car but were unhurt. 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. 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. 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. The other three ducked down on the floor but Ryan fired at Lisa. He was still labouring under the impression that there might have been a shooting accident. I knew I had to be the strong one of the family, I knew Ivor wouldn't cope.". As smoke filled the air from Ryans burning house, more people were hiding inside their homes. Meanwhile, a police officer had noticed Godfreys empty car with open doors and had gone to investigate. Ron Tarry, Hungerfords Mayor, claimed that the locals were in shock and speaking in hushed tones and that it was the press and others who had flocked to the scene who were doing the drinking in pubs. 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. 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. Although situated 15 miles from Hungerford, it was the nearest hospital with an Accident and Emergency department equipped to deal with the numerous casualties with high-velocity gunshot wounds. The event became known as the Hungerford massacre. 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. Find out how you can get the latest news from BerkshireLive delivered straight to your inbox. She was still wearing it, soaked now with Lisa Mildenhall's blood, when she was finally allowed back home. Susan Godfrey was shot dead in Savernake Forest. 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 Later that night, the clear-up began. Shortly after midday, Michael Ryan had approached Susan Godfrey, who was picnicking in nearby Savernake Forest. His favourite toy was Action Man, the commando-type plastic doll, kitted out with uniforms and weapons. He continually asked about his mother and how she was. Say the name Hungerford and most people will associate the town with the events of Wednesday, 19 August, 1987. The town had long been a tourist destination. "I rushed back to check on Jane and on the way I saw smoke coming up from South View [a nearby street]. In the ambulance on the way to hospital in Swindon, Ivor Jackson's heart had twice stopped beating. 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. When Michael Ryan went on a killing spree in Hungerford in 1987, the news - like last week's shootings in Cumbria - shocked the country. Ryan headed across the playing fields, still shooting. Ryan has also been documented on internet sites devoted to mass murder. Because Ryan burned down his home, any evidence of planning was destroyed. "It hasn't got any easier. After all, he was in the area and knew Mrs Dean. "It's funny, I've killed all those people but I don't have the guts to blow my own brains out.". "Ivor has very limited mobility, and his lungs are damaged from the bullet. I've never run so fast. The letter, complete with golden tassel, is still in its recorded delivery envelope and is kept in a basket in the Jacksons' kitchen. One man was injured. Dean reported later that when she looked Ryan in the face, it seemed as if he was not even aware of her and was looking right through her. The Hungerford Massacre on August 19, 1987, saw 16 people killed in a. After some time, young Hannah unbuckled their seatbelts, so they could go in search of their mother. "In fact, I first thought it was another lad who lived there. The Hoddle Street massacre was committed by a former soldier who wore combat fatigues. In an unfortunate turn of events, the police at the roadblock actually sent some drivers directly towards Ryan.Police Constable Roger Brereton rushed to the danger area of South View and Ryan shot at his patrol car 23 times. Still shooting, Ryan then walked to the end of the road, went along a footpath and made his way across some playing fields. S02:E05 - Thomas Watt Hamilton: Dunblane Massacre. Ryans next victim was Francis Butler, a 26-year-old accounts clerk, out walking his dog in the Hungerford Memorial Gardens. Sharp, acrid and smoky.". Saturday marks 30 years since Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. The gunman was reloading his weapon and Mrs Wainwright thought he would shoot at her again. "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.". 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 just routine. The primary school where Marjorie Jackson was a caretaker had broken up for the summer holidays. And she said I'm really sorry. 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. Police surrounded the school building and Brightwell worked to establish communication with Ryan and ultimately to persuade him to surrender. 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. 33 years ago today, a sleepy Berkshire town was rocked by one of the most shocking mass shootings ever seen in the UK. Their friend George White, who worked with Ivor, said he'd drive him home. Harries later received the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. He then asked the time and was silent for a while. 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. 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. ", Several of Derek and Mary Whiting's relatives were shot. "The tourist buses would just park where they usually did and then people used to come up here on foot," Trevor Jackson says. He is still haunted, he says, by the photograph of his father dead in his car. "Breaking in or shooting into a house and killing the inhabitants and then holding the position for a while before moving on, would have appealed to his military ideals and fantasies," says Prof Jackson. The investigation into Mrs Godfrey's death found she had not been raped. The damage to Michael Ryan's house after he set fire to it. 7 - Dorothy Ryan "Members of the public were in the station with the police. It just seemed to happen quite a lot.". Healthwise, we're struggling. His wife, who had a bullet in her spine, was not expected to walk again. "It was a massacre," she says. 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. "She'd just say she'd fallen over or something. "We got a letter from the Queen," Mr Jackson adds. The Round Table helped by providing funds for taxis, rents, television rentals and other services. It was confirmed that Michael Robert Ryan had fatally shot himself at 6.52 pm on Wednesday, 19 August 1987, with a single gunshot to the head. Ryan shot at her, making a hole in the side window. 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. Having murdered Mrs Godfrey, Ryan headed back to Hungerford in his Vauxhall Astra GTE, stopping at Froxfield filling station. The wheelchair-bound Myrtle was totally vulnerable and Victor threw himself across her to protect her from the crazed gunman. "I just thought she was delirious from blood loss.". 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. 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. "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. "I got into the house and slammed the door. He carried on, shooting Mrs Godfrey 13 times until he ran out of ammunition. "You know, it's funny. 6 were already dead.". 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. 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. Angrily, Ryan climbed out of the car and shot five bullets into the boot. 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