Hungerford massacre
The Hungerford massacre was a shooting that occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, on August 19, 1987. 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. 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 Dunblane massacre, one of the worst lone-wolf peacetime atrocities in British history.
The massacre led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act, 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricted the use of other firearms with a capacity of more than two rounds. The Hungerford Report had demonstrated that Ryan's collection of weapons was legally licensed.
Shootings
The first shooting occurred seven miles (11 km) to the west of Hungerford in Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, at 12:30 in the afternoon of August 19. Susan Godfrey, 33, from Reading, Berkshire was picnicking with her two young children when she was abducted by him at gun-point, and shot fifteen times in the back.Ryan then drove in his car, a Vauxhall Astra, from the forest along the A4 towards Hungerford and stopped at a petrol station three miles (5km) away from the town. After filling a petrol can he shot at the cashier, Mrs Kakoub Dean, and missed. Ryan tried to again to shoot her at close range, but this time his gun was empty. He left the petrol station and continued towards Hungerford. Mrs Dean placed an emergency call to the police.
At around 12:45 he was seen at his home in Fairview Road, Hungerford ( Google map). He shot the family dog or dogs (reports differ, one or two). He set fire to the house with the petrol he bought earlier in the day, the fire damaging three surrounding properties. He then removed the three shotguns from his car, possibly because it would not start. He shot and killed husband and wife Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in their back garden at their house in Southview.
On foot, Ryan proceeded towards the common, injuring two more people: Marjorie Jackson and Lisa Mildenhall (aged 14, shot in both legs[:Hungerford massacre}}#endnote_guardarchive-0]). Mrs. Jackson contacted George White, a colleague of her husband, who contacted her husband Ivor Jackson, who were both later shot, leaving White dead and Jackson injured. On the footpath towards the common he also killed Kenneth Clements who was walking with his family.
Returning to Southview he shot 23 rounds at PC Roger Brereton, a police officer who had just arrived at the scene, killing him as he remained sitting in his duty car[:Hungerford massacre}}#endnote_tele071204-0]. Linda Chapman and her daughter Alison Chapman were next shot and injured, having just driven into Southview in a car. Ryan fired 11 bullets from his semi-automatic into their Volvo; Linda was hit in the shoulder, Alison in the right thigh - the bullet travelling into her lower back and severing some of the nerves leaving her permanently disabled[:Hungerford massacre}}#endnote_tele071204-1]. Linda was able to drive out without further injury to the hospital.
Ryan moved along Fairview Road, killing Abdur Khan, who was in his back garden, and injuring Alan Lepetit who was walking along the road. An Ambulance which had just arrived in the road was next shot at, injuring Hazel Haslett before it drove off.
By, or before, 14:30 Ryan had ensconced himself at the John O'Gaunt Secondary School (his Alma mater closed and empty at the time of year for summer holidays). Police surrounded the building. Negotiators made contact with him; at one point he waved what appeared to be an unpinned grenade at them through the window[:Hungerford massacre}}#endnote_guard-archive-00]. At 19:00, still in the school, he shot himself[:Hungerford massacre}}#endnote_guard-archive-1]. One of the statements Ryan made towards the end was widely reported: "I wish I had stayed in bed".
Ryan had killed fifteen people, and wounded ten others.
Michael Ryan
The British tabloid press was filled with stories about Michael Ryan's life in the days following the massacre. At the best of times the tabloid press can be an unreliable source and in British law you cannot libel the dead. In addition Ryan had killed his mother who would, perhaps, have been able to shine most light on his private life. Press biographies all stated that he had a fondness for, possibly even an obsession with guns. The majority claimed that Ryan possessed magazines about Survival skills/firearms, Soldier of Fortune being frequently named. He was an only child, reportedly sullen and bullied at school. His father was in his fifties when he was born had been dead around two years prior to the shootings. Ryan lived alone with his mother, who was a waitress; there was extensive press comment on this suggesting the relationship was 'unhealthy', that Ryan was 'spoiled', a Guardian headline describing Ryan as a 'mummy's boy'.Police response
A number of factors hampered the police response:- The telephone exchange could not handle the number of 999 calls made by witnesses.
- The Thames Valley 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.
Media effects theory and Moral panic
It was alleged, particularly by tabloid newspapers, that Ryan was inspired by the film Rambo, some weakly remarking on his armed-forces style clothing. It was cited as an example of the Hypodermic needle model of negative media effects, particularly relevant in the wake of the controversy over video nasties. It later transpired that Ryan had never seen the film (Buckingham, 2001: 76) but the allegations provided sensationalist headlines and imagery (see Webster, 1989). It is true that Ryan owned violent films. It is also true that a great many young men possess violent films but do not go on to act violently.Cultural references
J G Ballard'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 has professed an interest in the Hungerford massacre and other "pointless crimes" such as that in Dunblane and the murder of Jill Dando.Sulk, the penultimate track on Radiohead's album The Bends, was written as a response to the massacre.
Quotations
"The realisation that this could happen in fun-loving England, where we don't have guns and the police aren't armed... it changed policing and it changed society for ever." - Then Hungerford police commanding officer, Charles Pollard.