Hungerford massacre
Encyclopedia
The Hungerford massacre occurred in Hungerford
, Berkshire, England, on 19 August 1987. The gunman, 27-year-old Michael Robert Ryan, armed with two semi-automatic rifle
s and a handgun
, shot and killed sixteen people including his mother, and wounded fifteen others, then fatally shot himself. A report on this incident was commissioned by the Home Secretary
, Douglas Hurd
, from the Chief Constable
of Thames Valley Police
, Colin Smith. It remains, along with the 1996 Dunblane massacre
and the 2010 Cumbria shootings
, one of the worst criminal atrocities involving firearms in British history.
The massacre
was used as the reasoning to pass 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 three rounds. The Hungerford Report had demonstrated that Ryan's collection of weapons was legally licensed.
, Berkshire on 18 May 1960. Ryan was an only child, and his father, Alfred Henry Ryan, was 55 years old when Michael was born. Alfred Ryan died in Swindon
, Wiltshire, in May 1985 at the age of 80. At the time of the shooting, Ryan lived with his mother, Dorothy, a dinner lady
at the local primary school. There was extensive press comment on this, suggesting the relationship was 'unhealthy' and that Ryan was "spoiled" by his mother. A Guardian
headline described Ryan as a "mummy's boy".
In the days following the massacre, the British tabloid press was filled with stories about Ryan's life. Press biographies all stated that he had a near-obsessive fascination with firearms. The majority claimed that Ryan possessed magazines about survival skills
and firearms, Soldier of Fortune
being frequently named. Press reports claimed that he was obsessed with the Rambo film First Blood
, which was erroneously described as featuring events similar to the Hungerford massacre, when in fact there was no evidence that Ryan even owned a video recorder, let alone that he had seen the film.
Ryan used the Beretta pistol, and the Type 56 and M1 rifles, in the massacre. The CZ pistol was being repaired by a dealer at the time. The Type 56 was purchased from firearms dealer Mick Ranger
.
in Wiltshire, at 12:30 in the afternoon of 19 August. Susan Godfrey, 35, had come to the area with her two children; Hannah, 4, and James, 2 from Reading, Berkshire
for a family picnic. Ryan approached Godfrey and her children at gunpoint, forced Susan to place the children in her Nissan Micra, then marched the woman into bushes at gunpoint and shot her thirteen times in the back. Police were alerted to the scene after Godfrey's two children approached a lone pensioner, Myra Rose: Hannah told Mrs. Rose a "man in black has shot our mummy." Authorities were still responding when Ryan began his massacre.
Driving in his car, a silver Vauxhall Astra GTE
, from the forest along the A4 towards Hungerford, Ryan stopped at a petrol station three miles (5 km) from the town. After waiting for a motorcyclist, Ian George, to depart from the garage, he began to pump petrol into his car before shooting at the cashier, Mrs. Kakaub Dean, missing her. Ryan entered the store and again tried to shoot her at close range with his M1 carbine
, but the rifle's magazine had fallen out, probably because he inadvertently hit the release mechanism. He left the petrol station and continued towards Hungerford.
Whilst Ryan was driving to Hungerford, George, having witnessed the attempted shooting of Dean, stopped in the village of Froxfield and placed the first emergency call
to the police, reporting that he had seen an attempted armed robbery.
At around 12:45, Ryan was seen at his home in South View, Hungerford. After loading his Vauxhall Astra with his weapons, Ryan attempted to leave, but the car would not start. Ryan fired five shots into the back of his Vauxhall. Neighbours reported seeing him agitatedly moving between the house and the car before he returned indoors and shot the family dog (or dogs – reports differ whether the family owned one or two pets). Ryan then doused his home with the petrol he had bought earlier in the day and set his house alight. The fire subsequently destroyed three surrounding properties. Ryan then removed the three shotguns from the boot of his car and shot and killed husband and wife Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in the back garden of their house: Sheila was shot once in the head and Roland six times in the back.
On foot, Ryan proceeded towards the town's common
, injuring two more people: Marjorie Jackson, who was shot as she watched Ryan from the window of her living room and 14-year-old Lisa Mildenhall, whom Ryan shot in both legs as she stood outside her home. Mildenhall would recall that Ryan smiled at her before crouching and shooting. After pulling a 77-year-old pensioner named Dorothy Smith (who had rebuked Ryan for making noise without provoking gunfire) into her home, Marjorie Jackson telephoned George White, a colleague of her husband Ivor Jackson. She informed White that she had been injured. Her husband insisted on returning home and George White offered to drive him. On the footpath towards the Common, Ryan encountered a family walking their dog. Upon seeing Ryan with his weapons, 51-year-old Kenneth Clements raised his arms in a gesture of surrender as his family climbed over a wall and ran to safety. Ryan ignored the gesture and killed Clements, who fell to the ground still clutching the lead of his dog.
Looping back to South View, Ryan fired 23 rounds at PC Roger Brereton, a police officer
who had just arrived at the scene in response to reports of gunfire. Brereton was hit four times: his car veered and crashed into a telephone pole. He died sitting in his patrol car, radioing to his colleagues that he had been shot. Ryan next turned his weapons on Linda Chapman and her teenage daughter, Alison, who had turned onto South View moments after Brereton was shot. Ryan fired 11 bullets from his semi-automatic into their Volvo 360; the bullets travelled through the bonnet of the car, hitting Alison in her right thigh. Ryan also shot through the windscreen, hitting Linda in the left shoulder. As Ryan reloaded his weapons, Linda reversed the car, exited South View and drove to the local doctor's, crashing into a tree outside the surgery. A bullet was subsequently found lodged at the base of Alison's spine; during a subsequent operation to remove it, surgeons decided that the risk of paralysis was too great, and the bullet was left in place.
After the Chapmans had driven away from South View, George White's Toyota drove towards Ryan; Ivor Jackson was in the passenger seat. Ryan opened fire with his Type 56, leaving White dead and Ivor Jackson severely injured. White's Toyota crashed into the rear of PC Brereton's police car. Jackson feigned death and hoped that Ryan would not move in for a closer look.
Ryan moved along Fairview Road, killing Abdul Rahman Khan who was mowing his lawn, then proceeded to injure his next door neighbour, Alan Lepetit further along Fairview Road: Lepetit had helped Ryan build the gun display unit in which Ryan housed his weapons. Ryan then shot at an ambulance
which had just arrived, shattering the window and injuring paramedic Hazel Haslett: Haslett sped away before Ryan was able to fire at her again. A crowd had now gathered, and Ryan proceeded to fire at windows and shoot at people who appeared on the street. Ryan's own mother, Dorothy, then drove into South View and she was confronted by the sight of her house on fire, her armed son and dead and injured strewn along the street. Ivor Jackson – shot four times and slumped injured in White's Toyota– heard Dorothy Ryan open the door of White's Toyota and say, "Oh, Ivor..." before attempting in vain to reason with her son. Ryan shot his mother dead as she raised her arms and pleaded with him not to shoot. Ryan then wounded Mrs. Betty Tolladay who had stepped out of her house to admonish Ryan – whom she had assumed had been shooting at paper targets in the woods – for making noise, before running towards Hungerford Common.
The police were now informed of the situation but the evacuation plan was not fully effective. A police helicopter managed to take off and track Ryan's movements almost an hour after he set his home alight, but this was further hampered by media helicopters and journalists responding to reports of the attacks. A single police officer also managed to observe Ryan and his armaments and recommended that armed police be used, as Ryan's armaments were beyond the capabilities of Hungerford police station's meagre firearms' locker.
On Hungerford Common, Ryan went on to shoot and kill a young father-of-two named Francis Butler as he walked his dog. He also shot at teenager Andrew Cadle but missed the boy, allowing Cadle to speed away on his bicycle. Local cabbie Marcus Barnard slowed down his Peugeot 309
as Ryan crossed in front of him. Michael shot him with the Type 56, causing a massive injury to his head and killing him. Barnard had been detoured towards the Common by a police diversion as communication between ground forces and the police helicopter remained sporadic. Mrs. Ann Honeybone was slightly injured by a bullet as she drove down Priory Avenue. Ryan then shot at John Storms, an ambulance repairman who was parked on Priory Avenue. Hit in the face, Storms crouched below the dashboard of his vehicle. He heard Ryan fire twice more at his van and felt the vehicle shake, but he was not hit again. A local builder named Bob Barclay ran from his nearby house and dragged Storms out of his van and into the safety of his home. Ryan then walked towards the town centre of Hungerford, where police were attempting to evacuate the public. During his walk, Ryan killed 67-year-old Douglas Wainwright and injured his wife Kathleen in their car. Kathleen Wainwright would later say that her husband hit the brakes as soon as the windscreen shattered. Ryan fired eight rounds into the Wainwrights' Datsun Bluebird, hitting Douglas in the head and Kathleen in the chest and hand. Mrs. Wainwright, seeing that her husband was dead and that Ryan was approaching the car whilst reloading, unbuckled her seatbelt and ran from the car. The pair were visiting their son, a policeman on the Hungerford force. Coincidentally, Constable Wainwright had signed Ryan's request to extend his firearm certificate only weeks earlier. Next was Kevin Lance, who was shot in the upper arm as he drove his Ford Transit along Tarrant's Hill.
Further up Priory Avenue, a 51-year-old handyman named Eric Vardy and his passenger, Steven Ball, drove into Ryan's path while travelling en route to a job in Vardy's Leyland Sherpa. Ball later recalled that he saw a young man – it was Kevin Lance – clutching his arm and running into a narrow side street. As Ball focused on Lance, Ryan shattered the windscreen with a burst of bullets. Vardy was hit twice in the neck and upper torso and crashed his van into a wall. Eric Vardy would later die of shock and haemorrhage from his neck wound. Ball suffered no serious injuries.
Throughout his movements, Ryan had also opened fire on a number of other people, some of whom were grazed or walking wounded. Many of these minor casualties were not counted in the eventual total.
At around 13:30, Ryan crossed Orchard Park Close into Priory Road, firing a single round at a passing red Renault 5
. This shot fatally wounded the driver, 22-year-old Sandra Hill. A passing soldier, Carl Harries, rushed to Hill's car and attempted in vain to apply first aid, but Hill died in his arms.
After shooting Hill, Ryan proceeded to shoot his way into a house further down Priory Road and killed the occupants: Jack Gibbs and his wheelchair-bound wife, Myrtle (some reports state Myrtle died later of injuries sustained when Ryan shot Jack: the husband had covered Myrtle with his own body to protect her). Ryan also fired shots into neighbouring houses from the Gibbs' house, injuring Mr. Michael Jennings at 62 Priory Road and Mrs. Myra Geater at 71 Priory Road. Ryan continued down Priory Road where he spotted 34-year-old Ian Playle, who was returning from a shopping trip with his wife and two young children in their Ford Sierra
. Playle crashed into a stationary car after being shot in the neck by Ryan. His wife and children were unhurt. Carl Harries again rushed over to administer first aid but Playle's wound proved to be fatal.
After shooting and injuring 66 year old George Noon in his garden, Ryan broke into the John O'Gaunt Community Technology College
.
A number of factors hampered the police response:
's novel Running Wild
centres around the fictitious Richard Greville, a Deputy Psychiatric Advisor with the Metropolitan Police
who authored "an unpopular minority report on the Hungerford killings" and is sent to investigate mass murder in a gated community
. Ballard professed an interest in the Hungerford massacre and other "pointless crimes" such as that in Dunblane
and the murder of Jill Dando
.
One Bloody Afternoon by Jeremy Josephs is a non-fiction description of all the events of the afternoon, describing each killing.
The Hungerford massacre inspired Christopher Priest's 1998 novel The Extremes
.
"Sulk", the penultimate track on Radiohead's album The Bends
, was written as a response to the massacre.
Chris Bowsher, founding member of the band Radical Dance Faction
, was a witness to the events and wrote "Hungerford Poem" which appears on the band's early album Hot On The Wire.
Spoof Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain mentioned the killer in their song "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do", a satire on the supposed links between gangsta rap
and gun crime as reported in the press: 'Like Michael Ryan, about to snap, guns don't kill people, it's just rap'.
Marvel Comics
mentioned the Hungerford massacre as background for their fictional mutant
antihero Pete Wisdom, stating that his mother was one of the victims.
The Smiths
were due to release the single "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
" around the time of the massacre. However, the song was later prevented from being released because it coincidentally contained the line "...and plan a mass murder".. However, Morrissey
later allegedly touched on the subject of Hungerford with the song "Michael's Bones" included on My Early Burglary Years
.
Hungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
, Berkshire, England, on 19 August 1987. The gunman, 27-year-old Michael Robert Ryan, armed with two semi-automatic rifle
Semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...
s and a handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
, shot and killed sixteen people including his mother, and wounded fifteen others, then fatally shot himself. A report on this incident was commissioned by the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Douglas Hurd
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995....
, from the Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
, Colin Smith. It remains, along with the 1996 Dunblane massacre
Dunblane massacre
The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March 1996. Sixteen children and one adult were killed by Thomas Hamilton before he committed suicide.-Timeline of events:...
and the 2010 Cumbria shootings
Cumbria shootings
The Cumbria shootings was a killing spree that occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, Derrick Bird, killed 12 people and injured 11 others before killing himself in Cumbria, England....
, one of the worst criminal atrocities involving firearms in British history.
The massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
was used as the reasoning to pass the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988
Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988
The Firearms Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is still in force. The Act, as amended, tightens controls on the possession of firearms, and applies throughout the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland...
, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic
Semi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
centre-fire
Centerfire ammunition
A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component....
rifles and restricted the use of shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than three rounds. The Hungerford Report had demonstrated that Ryan's collection of weapons was legally licensed.
Perpetrator
The perpetrator of the Hungerford massacre was 27-year-old Michael Robert Ryan, an unemployed labourer and antiques dealer. He was born at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough, Wiltshire, near HungerfordHungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
, Berkshire on 18 May 1960. Ryan was an only child, and his father, Alfred Henry Ryan, was 55 years old when Michael was born. Alfred Ryan died in Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, Wiltshire, in May 1985 at the age of 80. At the time of the shooting, Ryan lived with his mother, Dorothy, a dinner lady
Lunch Lady
Lunch lady is an American slang term for a woman who cooks and serves food in a school cafeteria; the equivalent British English term is "dinner lady". In Britain, a dinner lady also patrols the school playgrounds during the lunch breaks to maintain order amongst the children...
at the local primary school. There was extensive press comment on this, suggesting the relationship was 'unhealthy' and that Ryan was "spoiled" by his mother. A Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
headline described Ryan as a "mummy's boy".
In the days following the massacre, the British tabloid press was filled with stories about Ryan's life. Press biographies all stated that he had a near-obsessive fascination with firearms. The majority claimed that Ryan possessed magazines about survival skills
Survival skills
Survival skills are techniques a person may use in a dangerous situation to save themselves or others...
and firearms, Soldier of Fortune
Soldier of Fortune (magazine)
Soldier of Fortune , The Journal of Professional Adventurers, is a periodical monthly magazine devoted to world-wide reporting of wars, including conventional warfare, low-intensity warfare, counter insurgency, and counter-terrorism...
being frequently named. Press reports claimed that he was obsessed with the Rambo film First Blood
First Blood
First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
, which was erroneously described as featuring events similar to the Hungerford massacre, when in fact there was no evidence that Ryan even owned a video recorder, let alone that he had seen the film.
Licensed firearms ownership
Ryan had been issued a shotgun certificate in 1978, and on 11 December 1986 he was granted a firearms certificate covering the ownership of two pistols. He later applied to have the certificate amended to cover a third pistol, as he intended to sell one of the two he had acquired since the granting of the certificate, and to buy two more. This was approved on 30 April 1987. On 14 July he applied for another variation, to cover two semi-automatic rifles, which was approved on 30 July. At the time of the massacre, he was in licensed possession of the following weapons:- Zabala shotgun
- BrowningBrowning Arms CompanyBrowning Arms Company is a maker of firearms, bows and fishing gear. Founded in Utah in 1927, it offers a wide variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, pistols, and rimfire firearms and sport bows, as well as fishing rods and reels....
shotgun - Beretta 92FS semi-automatic 9 mm pistol
- CZ ORSO semi-automatic .32 pistol
- "Type 56"Type 56 Assault RifleThe Type 56 assault rifle is a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, which has been manufactured since 1956. It was produced by State Factory 66 from 1956-73, then by Norinco from 1973 onwards.-Service history:...
7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle (Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47AK-47The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
) - M1 CarbineM1 CarbineThe M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
.30 7.62x33mm semi-automatic rifle (a rare "Underwood" model)
Ryan used the Beretta pistol, and the Type 56 and M1 rifles, in the massacre. The CZ pistol was being repaired by a dealer at the time. The Type 56 was purchased from firearms dealer Mick Ranger
Mick Ranger
Mick Ranger is an Essex, UK based firearms dealer. He previously sold Michael Ryan the Chinese "Type 56" copy of AK-47 rifle that he used in 1987 to kill 8 people during the Hungerford massacre.-Biography:...
.
Shootings
The first shooting occurred seven miles (11 km) to the west of Hungerford in Savernake ForestSavernake Forest
Savernake Forest is on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately .It is privately owned by the Trustees of Savernake Estate, the Earl of Cardigan, and his family solicitor. Since 1939 the running of the forest has been...
in Wiltshire, at 12:30 in the afternoon of 19 August. Susan Godfrey, 35, had come to the area with her two children; Hannah, 4, and James, 2 from Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
for a family picnic. Ryan approached Godfrey and her children at gunpoint, forced Susan to place the children in her Nissan Micra, then marched the woman into bushes at gunpoint and shot her thirteen times in the back. Police were alerted to the scene after Godfrey's two children approached a lone pensioner, Myra Rose: Hannah told Mrs. Rose a "man in black has shot our mummy." Authorities were still responding when Ryan began his massacre.
Driving in his car, a silver Vauxhall Astra GTE
Vauxhall Astra
Astra is a model name which has been used by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors , on their small family car ranges since 1979. Astras are technically essentially identical with similar vehicles offered by GM's German subsidiary Opel in most other European countries...
, from the forest along the A4 towards Hungerford, Ryan stopped at a petrol station three miles (5 km) from the town. After waiting for a motorcyclist, Ian George, to depart from the garage, he began to pump petrol into his car before shooting at the cashier, Mrs. Kakaub Dean, missing her. Ryan entered the store and again tried to shoot her at close range with his M1 carbine
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
, but the rifle's magazine had fallen out, probably because he inadvertently hit the release mechanism. He left the petrol station and continued towards Hungerford.
Whilst Ryan was driving to Hungerford, George, having witnessed the attempted shooting of Dean, stopped in the village of Froxfield and placed the first emergency call
Emergency Call
Emergency Call is a British film released in 1952 by Nettlefold Films. The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert and stars Jack Warner in a familiar role playing a policeman, Anthony Steel, Joy Shelton and Sid James as a dubious boxing promoter....
to the police, reporting that he had seen an attempted armed robbery.
At around 12:45, Ryan was seen at his home in South View, Hungerford. After loading his Vauxhall Astra with his weapons, Ryan attempted to leave, but the car would not start. Ryan fired five shots into the back of his Vauxhall. Neighbours reported seeing him agitatedly moving between the house and the car before he returned indoors and shot the family dog (or dogs – reports differ whether the family owned one or two pets). Ryan then doused his home with the petrol he had bought earlier in the day and set his house alight. The fire subsequently destroyed three surrounding properties. Ryan then removed the three shotguns from the boot of his car and shot and killed husband and wife Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in the back garden of their house: Sheila was shot once in the head and Roland six times in the back.
On foot, Ryan proceeded towards the town's common
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
, injuring two more people: Marjorie Jackson, who was shot as she watched Ryan from the window of her living room and 14-year-old Lisa Mildenhall, whom Ryan shot in both legs as she stood outside her home. Mildenhall would recall that Ryan smiled at her before crouching and shooting. After pulling a 77-year-old pensioner named Dorothy Smith (who had rebuked Ryan for making noise without provoking gunfire) into her home, Marjorie Jackson telephoned George White, a colleague of her husband Ivor Jackson. She informed White that she had been injured. Her husband insisted on returning home and George White offered to drive him. On the footpath towards the Common, Ryan encountered a family walking their dog. Upon seeing Ryan with his weapons, 51-year-old Kenneth Clements raised his arms in a gesture of surrender as his family climbed over a wall and ran to safety. Ryan ignored the gesture and killed Clements, who fell to the ground still clutching the lead of his dog.
Looping back to South View, Ryan fired 23 rounds at PC Roger Brereton, a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
who had just arrived at the scene in response to reports of gunfire. Brereton was hit four times: his car veered and crashed into a telephone pole. He died sitting in his patrol car, radioing to his colleagues that he had been shot. Ryan next turned his weapons on Linda Chapman and her teenage daughter, Alison, who had turned onto South View moments after Brereton was shot. Ryan fired 11 bullets from his semi-automatic into their Volvo 360; the bullets travelled through the bonnet of the car, hitting Alison in her right thigh. Ryan also shot through the windscreen, hitting Linda in the left shoulder. As Ryan reloaded his weapons, Linda reversed the car, exited South View and drove to the local doctor's, crashing into a tree outside the surgery. A bullet was subsequently found lodged at the base of Alison's spine; during a subsequent operation to remove it, surgeons decided that the risk of paralysis was too great, and the bullet was left in place.
After the Chapmans had driven away from South View, George White's Toyota drove towards Ryan; Ivor Jackson was in the passenger seat. Ryan opened fire with his Type 56, leaving White dead and Ivor Jackson severely injured. White's Toyota crashed into the rear of PC Brereton's police car. Jackson feigned death and hoped that Ryan would not move in for a closer look.
Ryan moved along Fairview Road, killing Abdul Rahman Khan who was mowing his lawn, then proceeded to injure his next door neighbour, Alan Lepetit further along Fairview Road: Lepetit had helped Ryan build the gun display unit in which Ryan housed his weapons. Ryan then shot at an ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
which had just arrived, shattering the window and injuring paramedic Hazel Haslett: Haslett sped away before Ryan was able to fire at her again. A crowd had now gathered, and Ryan proceeded to fire at windows and shoot at people who appeared on the street. Ryan's own mother, Dorothy, then drove into South View and she was confronted by the sight of her house on fire, her armed son and dead and injured strewn along the street. Ivor Jackson – shot four times and slumped injured in White's Toyota– heard Dorothy Ryan open the door of White's Toyota and say, "Oh, Ivor..." before attempting in vain to reason with her son. Ryan shot his mother dead as she raised her arms and pleaded with him not to shoot. Ryan then wounded Mrs. Betty Tolladay who had stepped out of her house to admonish Ryan – whom she had assumed had been shooting at paper targets in the woods – for making noise, before running towards Hungerford Common.
The police were now informed of the situation but the evacuation plan was not fully effective. A police helicopter managed to take off and track Ryan's movements almost an hour after he set his home alight, but this was further hampered by media helicopters and journalists responding to reports of the attacks. A single police officer also managed to observe Ryan and his armaments and recommended that armed police be used, as Ryan's armaments were beyond the capabilities of Hungerford police station's meagre firearms' locker.
On Hungerford Common, Ryan went on to shoot and kill a young father-of-two named Francis Butler as he walked his dog. He also shot at teenager Andrew Cadle but missed the boy, allowing Cadle to speed away on his bicycle. Local cabbie Marcus Barnard slowed down his Peugeot 309
Peugeot 309
The Peugeot 309 was a small family car manufactured between 1985 and 1993 in England and France.The 309 was originally intended to be badged as a Talbot and, as development progressed, to be called the Talbot Arizona...
as Ryan crossed in front of him. Michael shot him with the Type 56, causing a massive injury to his head and killing him. Barnard had been detoured towards the Common by a police diversion as communication between ground forces and the police helicopter remained sporadic. Mrs. Ann Honeybone was slightly injured by a bullet as she drove down Priory Avenue. Ryan then shot at John Storms, an ambulance repairman who was parked on Priory Avenue. Hit in the face, Storms crouched below the dashboard of his vehicle. He heard Ryan fire twice more at his van and felt the vehicle shake, but he was not hit again. A local builder named Bob Barclay ran from his nearby house and dragged Storms out of his van and into the safety of his home. Ryan then walked towards the town centre of Hungerford, where police were attempting to evacuate the public. During his walk, Ryan killed 67-year-old Douglas Wainwright and injured his wife Kathleen in their car. Kathleen Wainwright would later say that her husband hit the brakes as soon as the windscreen shattered. Ryan fired eight rounds into the Wainwrights' Datsun Bluebird, hitting Douglas in the head and Kathleen in the chest and hand. Mrs. Wainwright, seeing that her husband was dead and that Ryan was approaching the car whilst reloading, unbuckled her seatbelt and ran from the car. The pair were visiting their son, a policeman on the Hungerford force. Coincidentally, Constable Wainwright had signed Ryan's request to extend his firearm certificate only weeks earlier. Next was Kevin Lance, who was shot in the upper arm as he drove his Ford Transit along Tarrant's Hill.
Further up Priory Avenue, a 51-year-old handyman named Eric Vardy and his passenger, Steven Ball, drove into Ryan's path while travelling en route to a job in Vardy's Leyland Sherpa. Ball later recalled that he saw a young man – it was Kevin Lance – clutching his arm and running into a narrow side street. As Ball focused on Lance, Ryan shattered the windscreen with a burst of bullets. Vardy was hit twice in the neck and upper torso and crashed his van into a wall. Eric Vardy would later die of shock and haemorrhage from his neck wound. Ball suffered no serious injuries.
Throughout his movements, Ryan had also opened fire on a number of other people, some of whom were grazed or walking wounded. Many of these minor casualties were not counted in the eventual total.
At around 13:30, Ryan crossed Orchard Park Close into Priory Road, firing a single round at a passing red Renault 5
Renault 5
The Renault 5 was first unveiled on 10 December 1971, being launched at the beginning of 1972.The Renault 5 was styled by Michel Boué, who died before the car's release, the R5 featured a steeply sloping rear hatchback and front dashboard...
. This shot fatally wounded the driver, 22-year-old Sandra Hill. A passing soldier, Carl Harries, rushed to Hill's car and attempted in vain to apply first aid, but Hill died in his arms.
After shooting Hill, Ryan proceeded to shoot his way into a house further down Priory Road and killed the occupants: Jack Gibbs and his wheelchair-bound wife, Myrtle (some reports state Myrtle died later of injuries sustained when Ryan shot Jack: the husband had covered Myrtle with his own body to protect her). Ryan also fired shots into neighbouring houses from the Gibbs' house, injuring Mr. Michael Jennings at 62 Priory Road and Mrs. Myra Geater at 71 Priory Road. Ryan continued down Priory Road where he spotted 34-year-old Ian Playle, who was returning from a shopping trip with his wife and two young children in their Ford Sierra
Ford Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
. Playle crashed into a stationary car after being shot in the neck by Ryan. His wife and children were unhurt. Carl Harries again rushed over to administer first aid but Playle's wound proved to be fatal.
After shooting and injuring 66 year old George Noon in his garden, Ryan broke into the John O'Gaunt Community Technology College
John O'Gaunt Community Technology College
John O'Gaunt Community Technology College is a comprehensive and Technology College of approximately 633 pupils in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. It was Berkshire's first community school. The school was built in 1962 and is a fusion of 1960s decor and 1990s pre-fabricated buildings...
.
Suicide
Inside the John O'Gaunt Community Technology College (closed and empty at that time of year for summer holidays), where he had previously been a pupil, Michael Ryan barricaded himself in a classroom. Police surrounded the building and found that a number of ground-staff and two children had seen Ryan enter, and they offered guidance on how to enter, and hiding places. Negotiators made contact with Ryan only after the shooter had taken potshots at circling helicopters. At one point Ryan waved what appeared to be an unpinned grenade at them through the window, though reports differ as to whether Ryan really was armed as such. Police attempted negotiations to coax Ryan out of the school, but these attempts failed. At 18:52, Ryan committed suicide. One of the statements Ryan made towards the end of the negotiations was widely reported: "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. I wish I had stayed in bed."Police response
Hungerford was policed by two Sergeants and twelve Constables, and on the morning of 19 August 1987 the duty cover for the section consisted of one Sergeant, two Patrol Constables and one Station Duty Officer.A number of factors hampered the police response:
- The telephone exchange could not handle the number of 999999 (emergency telephone number)999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
calls made by witnesses. - The Thames ValleyThames Valley PoliceThames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
firearms squad were training 40 miles away. - The police helicopter was in for repair, though was eventually deployed.
- Only two phone lines were in operation at the local police station which was undergoing renovation.
Cultural references
J. G. BallardJ. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction...
's novel Running Wild
Running Wild (novella)
Running Wild is a novella by J. G. Ballard, first published in 1988.The novel takes the form of a detective novel, recounting the investigation of a mysterious massacre in suburbia through the diary of a forensic psychiatrist.- Plot summary :...
centres around the fictitious Richard Greville, a Deputy Psychiatric Advisor with the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
who authored "an unpopular minority report on the Hungerford killings" and is sent to investigate mass murder in a gated community
Gated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
. Ballard professed an interest in the Hungerford massacre and other "pointless crimes" such as that in Dunblane
Dunblane massacre
The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March 1996. Sixteen children and one adult were killed by Thomas Hamilton before he committed suicide.-Timeline of events:...
and the murder of Jill Dando
Jill Dando
Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader who worked for the BBC for 14 years. She was murdered by gunshot outside her home in Fulham, West London; her killer has never been identified....
.
One Bloody Afternoon by Jeremy Josephs is a non-fiction description of all the events of the afternoon, describing each killing.
The Hungerford massacre inspired Christopher Priest's 1998 novel The Extremes
The Extremes
The Extremes is a BSFA Award winning 1998 science fiction novel by Christopher Priest.-Plot introduction:Teresa Simons is drawn to a quiet English seaside town in the aftermath of a motiveless massacre by a gunman. Her husband, an FBI agent, had died in a similar outburst of violence in a small...
.
"Sulk", the penultimate track on Radiohead's album The Bends
The Bends
The Bends is the second studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. The Bends was produced by John Leckie at EMI's studios in London, and engineered by Nigel Godrich, who would go on to produce all future albums by the band...
, was written as a response to the massacre.
Chris Bowsher, founding member of the band Radical Dance Faction
Radical Dance Faction
Radical Dance Faction was a band from Berkshire, England.-History:Radical Dance Faction were founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford in 1986, and were originally known as 'Military Surplus'. The band experienced many line up changes, with at least eighteen different people having being part of the...
, was a witness to the events and wrote "Hungerford Poem" which appears on the band's early album Hot On The Wire.
Spoof Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain mentioned the killer in their song "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do", a satire on the supposed links between gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
and gun crime as reported in the press: 'Like Michael Ryan, about to snap, guns don't kill people, it's just rap'.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
mentioned the Hungerford massacre as background for their fictional mutant
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
antihero Pete Wisdom, stating that his mother was one of the victims.
The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
were due to release the single "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
-Smiths original:The Smiths' song, written by the usual combination of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, came out on the group's 1987 album Strangeways, Here We Come....
" around the time of the massacre. However, the song was later prevented from being released because it coincidentally contained the line "...and plan a mass murder".. However, Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
later allegedly touched on the subject of Hungerford with the song "Michael's Bones" included on My Early Burglary Years
My Early Burglary Years
My Early Burglary Years is a compilation album by Morrissey that was released in September of 1998 in the United States on Reprise Records. It follows in the tradition of his previous compilation albums Bona Drag and World of Morrissey in that it collects various single a-sides and b-sides, some...
.
See also
- List of massacres in the United Kingdom
- Monkseaton shootingsMonkseaton shootingsThe Monkseaton shootings occurred on 30 April 1989 in Monkseaton, North Tyneside when Robert Sartin killed one man and left fourteen other people injured during a twenty-minute shooting spree....
- Cumbria shootingsCumbria shootingsThe Cumbria shootings was a killing spree that occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, Derrick Bird, killed 12 people and injured 11 others before killing himself in Cumbria, England....
- Hoddle Street massacreHoddle Street massacreThe Hoddle Street massacre is a spree killing that occurred on the evening of Sunday, 9 August 1987 in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.The shootings resulted in the deaths of seven people, and serious injury to 19 others...
External links
- Crown Copyright (1988). Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 (c. 45).