Man who planned ‘hitman-style’ mass shooting for revenge on school is jailed
Reed Wischhusen, 32, built an arsenal of homemade weapons with which to kill teachers, ex-classmates and police staff in Worle, Somerset.
A Lidl worker who built an ‘armory’ of homemade weapons while plotting to gun down former classmates and teachers has been jailed for life.
Reed Wischhusen, 32, used his home in Worle, Somerset, as a makeshift weapon factory while plotting a rampage through the town aimed at wreaking ‘revenge’ on people he thought had wronged him in the past.
He scrawled the names of 10 former classmates, teachers and police staff in a 1,700-word manifesto detailing a ‘hitman-style’ attack, a court heard.
Armed officers stormed a house where Wichhusen lived with his father in November 2022 and shot the 32-year-old three times after he pointed one of his handguns at them.
The plot was only uncovered after he was tipped off converting blank-firing guns into lethal ones.
An ‘armory’ of ‘crudely constructed’ but ‘extremely dangerous’ weapons was found stashed around the house and an outhouse to its rear, police said.
They included pistols, submachine guns and a shotgun, as well as ammunition, bombs, grenades and poison.
Evidence was also uncovered indicating Wischhusen was obsessed with mass killings such as the Oklahoma bombing in 1995, the Dunblane massacre in 1996 and the Columbine shooting in 1999.
He was said to have a ‘macabre interest in infamous killers’ including Dunblane shooter Thomas Hamilton, shotgun killer Raoul Moat and American cop killer Ralph McLean.
In his manifesto, he wrote: ‘Yes, revenge is on my mind it’s a powerful motivator, be nice to get back at the people who caused me stress and worry over the years it’s been eating away at my brain like cancer.’
His plan included shooting teachers at his former school and bombing it before targeting Avon and Somerset Police HQ and taking his own life.
Wischhusen, who attempted to take his own life during the raid on his home, told detectives the document was just a fantasy he wrote for his own amusement.
In court he admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate.
He denied a number of other weapons charges but was later found guilty of these too and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 12 years.
Those charges were: having an explosive substance with intent to endanger life, having an explosive substance, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life and possessing a prohibited firearm without a certificate.
DCI Simon Dewfall of Somerset and Avon Police said: ‘Had he not been caught when he was, the consequences simply do not bear thinking about.
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