The Hungerford Massacre

Today is the 31st anniversary of the Hungerford Massacre where on the 19th august 1987, 27 year old Michael Ryan fatally shot 16 people and injured 15 before committing suicide; this was Britain's first Mass Shooting and was the deadliest until 1996.


The shooting:

The Massacre first began when Michael Ryan approached mother Susan Godfrey and her 2 children while they were picnicking in Savernake Forest, Ryan was armed with a pistol and forced Susan to put her children in their car and marched into the bushes at gunpoint, he then shot her 13 times in the back, killing her, Ryan then got into his car and fled the scene. Later the children were found wondering the Forest by a passer by, the daughter said "a man in black has shot our mummy."

Ryan then stopped at a Petrol Station, after filling up his car and petrol can and waited for another person to leave, Ryan then shot at the female cashier with an M1 Carbine, he then went in the station to kill her but the gun's magazine had fallen out, probably because he inadvertently hit the release mechanism. He then left and continued towards Hungerford while a witness called the Police and reported it was an armed Robbery.

Ryan pulled up to his house at Southview Road, loaded several weapons and ammunition into his car and attempted to drive off, however the car failed to start. He then fired four shots into the right side of the car. Neighbours reported seeing him agitatedly moving between the house and the car before he returned indoors and shot and killed the family dog. Ryan then doused his home with the petrol he had bought earlier in the day and set his house alight. He then retrieved the weapons and ammunition from his car, Ryan was now armed with a Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle, an M1 Carbine, and a Beretta 92FS semi-Automatic 9 mm pistol. Ryan then killed 2 of his neighbours and injured several more, he then proceed to kill 4 more people including a police officer until his mother Dorothy pulled up in her car, she begged him to stop but Ryan ignored her and shot her dead before running to Hungerford common.

Ryan would then kill and injure the rest of his victims in Hungerford common and Town centre, to which he had reported to have thrown the Carbine on the ground, presumably as it had run out of Ammunition. After killing his last victim, Ryan broke into John O'Gaunt Secondary School where he had formerly been a pupil, as armed Police surrounded the building, Ryan barricaded himself in an empty classroom and for 5 hours the police negotiated with Ryan and attempted to get him to surrender, Michael asked multiple times about his mother saying her death was a "mistake" and expressed remorse for killing her and his dog. During the near end of the negotiations, Ryan said "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. I wish I had stayed in bed." At 18:52, Ryan put the Berretta in his mouth, and killed himself.

The perpetrator:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Michael Robert Ryan was an unemployed labourer and antiques dealer. He was born at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough, Wiltshire, located near Hungerford, Berkshire, on 18 May 1960 to Alfred who was 55 and Dorothy Ryan who was 35. He was an only child although his father had children from a pervious marriage. Alfred died in Swindon in May 1985 at the age of 80. At the time of the shooting Ryan lived with his mother who worked at the local Primary School, their relationship was described as unhealthy with Ryan's mother spoiling Michael and buying him whatever he wanted including an Air Rifle at the age of 16.

Ryan was socially awkward, a loner and isolated, didn't mix with people and failed to attain any friends or girlfriend. Ryan said to multiple people including his own mother that he was getting married, had a friend who was a Colonel and had served in the SAS, none of this is of course true, wherever Ryan actually believed this or was just lying to make conversation and seem more interesting is not known. Ryan to have seemed in a fantasy world full of gun and survival magazines and was increasingly distant from everyone around him. Ryan developed an extreme obsession with guns, he was a member of 2 gun clubs and had 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 (a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver) 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. Ryan would also usually dress in combat and camouflage clothing as he would dress during the shooting.

Motive:

No Motive for the shooting has ever been found as the only person who knew him, his mother, was killed during the shooting. Psychologists suggest that Michael suffered from acute Schizophrenia and/or psychosis, although this has never proven and Ryan showed no traits of either illnesses, one psychologist did theorise the shooting some sort of revenge against society and was a form of "anger and contempt for the ordinary life" around him, which he himself was not a tangible part of.

Firearm Legalisation :

Because his Firearms were legally owned, the event caused the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 which banned the ownership of Semi-Automatic Centre fire Rifles and greatly restricted Shotguns that can hold more than 3 cartridges.

In 2011 I was obsessed with The Hungerford Massacre and Derrick Bird, but I have since been interested in Shootings from around the world.

I think his original plan was to drive around Shooting random people like Derrick Bird did.
I'm suprised he didn't walk into the centre of the town, had he done so, the death toll could have easilly been 25+.

Ziamber II wrote:

In 2011 I was obsessed with The Hungerford Massacre and Derrick Bird, but I have since been interested in Shootings from around the world.

I think his original plan was to drive around Shooting random people like Derrick Bird did.
I'm suprised he didn't walk into the centre of the town, had he done so, the death toll could have easilly been 25+.

Yeah people are lucky the death toll wasn't much higher. I wish there was more pics of Ryan and more information about his life.

His Car:

His Guns:

Credit to a user on Tumblr for the last pic.

His house on fire:

After the fire:

The only pic of his parents(presume to be taken before he was born):

Child pics of him:

Credit to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for finding them.

When i was an infant, my face looked very similar to him.

Thank you, this is a very interesting one, especially since it didn't happen in the US.

Tommy QTR wrote:

I wish there was more pics of Ryan and more information about his life.

I don't think as many information about mass shooters in the United Kingdom or France would be released as in the USA. When I think about all the information we have about Columbine, their diaries, documents on their computers, videos of them... we probably never would have all that in another country, to the point that I am even wondering if it is because there is a law preventing the release of some personal information or something. In France we stick to the fact, someone shot 10 people, he suffered from depression, he bought his gun legally, this is horrible, that's all.

Neah wrote:

Thank you, this is a very interesting one, especially since it didn't happen in the US.

Tommy QTR wrote:

I wish there was more pics of Ryan and more information about his life.

I don't think as many information about mass shooters in the United Kingdom or France would be released as in the USA. When I think about all the information we have about Columbine, their diaries, documents on their computers, videos of them... we probably never would have all that in another country, to the point that I am even wondering if it is because there is a law preventing the release of some personal information or something. In France we stick to the fact, someone shot 10 people, he suffered from depression, he bought his gun legally, this is horrible, that's all.

I also believe there isn't a lot of information about Ryan because he burnt down his house and the only people who knew him were dead. So we have to rely on neighbours and other people he interacted with (which wasn't many).

I also forgot to mention that Ryan was reported to have been severally bullied while attending John O'Gaunt Secondary School.

How come so many people think he was influenced by the Rambo films? I've seen that come up a few times before.

QuestionMark wrote:

How come so many people think he was influenced by the Rambo films? I've seen that come up a few times before.

I think it's because of the way he dressed and that there was a few reports by the media that it was his favourite film, even that there's no evidence he ever watched it.

Alot of people tend to assume that it was always Michael Ryan's intention to carry out a massacre or to go one a cross country killing spree like that of Derrick Bird. However, this was not his intention. I do think Michael intended to kill Susan Godfrey, but either after sexually assaulting her or just doing it in a more "clean" manner (e.g. back of the head) however her attempting to escape caused him to go into rage and brutally shoot her multiple times. Not knowing what to do he panicked and took off. He attempted to kill the petrol station clerk because she recognised him and would comprise his escape. He burned his house down to presumably hide evidence (indicating he may have kept a diary or something like it) and distract the police while he made his escape. He packed his guns and a survival kit, which tells me his intention was to get as far away from Hungerford as possible and go into the wilderness where he would hide from the police and possibly hunt them down (in a manner similar to Rambo in First Blood, which is probably where the media got the idea from). But because his car failed to start he was left stranded in Hungerford, so, with images of Julian Knight's recent shooting spree running through his mind, he decided to bring the people of the town he despised so much down with him. I also do believe the killing of his mother and dog were completely accidental and I do think he deeply regretted both acts. But I think he didn't feel any remorse for killing the others. I think his only other regrets were that of regret he was in that situation and was unable to escape.

D-FENS1993 wrote:

Alot of people tend to assume that it was always Michael Ryan's intention to carry out a massacre or to go one a cross country killing spree like that of Derrick Bird. However, this was not his intention. I do think  Michael intended to kill Susan Godfrey, but either after sexually assaulting her or just doing it in a more "clean" manner (e.g. back of the head) however her attempting to escape caused him to go into rage and brutally shoot her multiple times. Not knowing what to do he panicked and took off. He attempted to kill the petrol station clerk because she recognised him and would comprise his escape. He burned his house down to presumably hide evidence (indicating he may have kept a diary or something like it) and distract the police while he made his escape. He packed his guns and a survival kit, which tells me his intention was to get as far away from Hungerford as possible and go into the wilderness where he would hide from the police and possibly hunt them down (in a manner similar to Rambo in First Blood, which is probably where the media got the idea from). But because his car failed to start he was left stranded in Hungerford, so, with images of Julian Knight's recent shooting spree running through his mind, he decided to bring the people of the town he despised so much down with him. I also do believe the killing of his mother and dog were completely accidental and I do think he deeply regretted both acts. But I think he didn't feel any remorse for killing the others. I think his only other regrets were that of regret he was in that situation and was unable to escape.

That does make a lot of sense. I have heard a few reports that Ryan stalked people Savernake Forest as part of some sort of sexual fantasy he had, I also believe one of the reasons Ryan had such an obsession with guns is that he was trying to reinforce his masculinity.

Although I haven't seen any evidence Ryan had ever heard of Julian Knight.

Hungerford remains one of the most mysterious shootings because we don't know much about what his true intentions were that day. He might have started the day not planning on killing anyone, but had he actually intended to kill as many people as possible, he would not have gone to Savernake Forest, and if he intended to drive around shooting people, he would have filled his car with petrol before shooting anyone as he could have been stopped by police during the time between Savernake Forest and Hungerford. If he actually wanted to get a maximum kill count, he would have attacked the main street in Hungerford, which he avoided throughout the massacre. I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once his car would not start, he didn't really have a plan or anywhere to escape to, and i think his route towards the empty school was random.

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.

An article on Michael's childhood:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gives out a lot of School Shooter vibes.

Tommy QTR wrote:

An article on Michael's childhood:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gives out a lot of School Shooter vibes.

Well you could say he was a School Shooter, because he became An Hero by Shooting himself in his old school.

Ziamber II wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

An article on Michael's childhood:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gives out a lot of School Shooter vibes.

Well you could say he was a School Shooter, because he became An Hero by Shooting himself in his old school.

I think that's a stretch calling him a School Shooter, I think he would have been under the right circumstances. I do believe there is a reason why he went back to his old School, a symbolic gesture by coming back to the place where it all began, where he became isolated and started to develop a hatred for society and the people around him. This is just speculation of course.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.  

Now usually I don't take Ziamber's suggestion's seriously, but this possibility has me intrigued. Is there evidence against this theory?

QuestionMark wrote:

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.  

Now usually I don't take Ziamber's suggestion's seriously, but this possibility has me intrigued. Is there evidence against this theory?

Is there any evidence for this theory to begin with? Even if he was stalking about the forests, it doesn't automatically make Ryan serial killer material.

Tommy QTR wrote:

An article on Michael's childhood:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gives out a lot of School Shooter vibes.

Interesting news story.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.  

Now usually I don't take Ziamber's suggestion's seriously, but this possibility has me intrigued. Is there evidence against this theory?

Is there any evidence for this theory to begin with?

Now that I don't know, since Michael Ryan isn't one of the shooters I've enjoyed studying at length. Someone who more knowledge about the case would have to say with greater certainty.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.  

Now usually I don't take Ziamber's suggestion's seriously, but this possibility has me intrigued. Is there evidence against this theory?

Is there any evidence for this theory to begin with? Even if he was stalking about the forests, it doesn't automatically make Ryan serial killer material.

There is no evidence to say so, but it would be impossible to deny that might have been his original plan.

Ziamber II wrote:

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

Ziamber II wrote:

I think because of his history of stalking people in Savernake Forest, there might have originally been a serial killer intention to begin with.

Once again, there's absolutely no real evidence to remotely suggest that was the case with Ryan at all.  

Now usually I don't take Ziamber's suggestion's seriously, but this possibility has me intrigued. Is there evidence against this theory?

Is there any evidence for this theory to begin with? Even if he was stalking about the forests, it doesn't automatically make Ryan serial killer material.

There is no evidence to say so, but it would be impossible to deny that might have been his original plan.

How is it impossible to deny? There's obviously no evidence as stated, him stalking the woods fits more in him trying to be a pseudocommando carrying out fantasy recon missions than him planning to become a serial killer which out of all explanations for Ryan is probably the most unlikely.

I admit there is no evidence, but because there is so little information on Michael, you have to think about all the possible motives.

Ziamber II wrote:

I admit there is no evidence, but because there is so little information  on Michael, you have to think about all the possible motives.

Don't worry, I'm well read up on Ryan's case and the "serial killer" theory (if you can even call it one) is one of the least likely possibilities I heard, it's almost as bad as "Ryan did it because he watched Rambo". Maybe you should think about the actual possible motives.

Any more information regarding the police negotiation at the school? Im curious to know what else was said other than the "hungerford must be bit of a mess" and all that