At 12:30 BST, Ryan, openly armed, approached the family and Susan placed the children in her car. That day, 35-year-old Susan Godfrey and her two pre-school children had travelled from Burghfield Common near Reading and were picnicking in the forest. In his car he carried his Beretta pistol, M1 carbine rifle, and Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. Shootings Wiltshire Īfter his mother left home to run errands on the morning of 19 August, Ryan drove his Vauxhall Astra GTE to Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, seven miles (11 km) to the west of Hungerford. He might have had a reason for doing what he did, but it was likely to be bizarre and peculiar to him." Jim Higgins, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, suspected that Ryan was psychotic, describing how " matricide is the schizophrenic crime." A psychologist in BBC One's The Hungerford Massacre documentary described how Ryan had "anger and contempt for ordinary life". John Hamilton, the medical director of Broadmoor Hospital, stated that "Ryan was most likely to be suffering from acute schizophrenia. Health įollowing Ryan's death, his mental health came under analysis. As well as his target practice at legitimate venues, Ryan used a large road sign at the junction of the M4 and the A338. Ryan showed some of his firearms – as well as improvised explosive devices – to his colleagues at his labouring job. The Norinco was purchased from firearms dealer Mick Ranger. The CZ pistol was being repaired by a dealer at the time, and he had sold the Bernardelli shortly before the shootings. Ryan used the Beretta pistol, the Norinco, and the carbine in the massacre.
Norinco Type 56 7.62×39mm semi-automatic rifle.At the time of the massacre, he was licensed to possess eight firearms, which he purchased between 17 December 1986 and 8 August 1987: On 14 July, he applied for another variation, to cover two semi-automatic rifles, which was approved on 30 July. 38-caliber revolver) and to buy two more. 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 (a Smith & Wesson. The licence only permitted Ryan to use the weapons at approved ranges his application stated that he would use them at a target shooting facility in Abingdon and he was a member of a rifle club in Devizes. Ryan was issued a shotgun certificate on 2 February 1978, and on 11 December 1986 he was granted a firearms certificate covering the ownership of two pistols. He left the job in July, and returned to claiming unemployment benefits. In April 1987, Ryan began employment as a labourer working on footpaths and fences near the River Thames, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Hungerford. Ryan's mother, Dorothy, was 19 years Alfred's junior and worked as a school dinner lady before taking employment at Elcot Park Hotel as a waitress. He had worked for a local government agency as a building inspector, and died from cancer in 1985 at the age of 80. His father, Alfred Henry Ryan, was 55 years old when Michael was born. Michael Robert Ryan was born on at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough, Wiltshire, the only child of Alfred and Dorothy Ryan. The shootings remain one of the deadliest firearms incidents in British history. The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 was passed in the wake of the incident, which bans the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricts the use of shotguns with a capacity of more than three cartridges. No firm motive for the killings has ever been established.Ī report on the massacre was commissioned by Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. Fifteen other people were also shot but survived. The shootings, committed using a handgun and two semi-automatic rifles, occurred at several locations, including a school he had once attended. The Hungerford massacre was a spree shooting in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on 19 August 1987, when 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot and killed sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother, before shooting himself.
Mass murder, spree shooting, murder-suicide, massacre, arson
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