A man who dressed as policeman to attack officer headquarters and plotted to shoot former teachers and ex-schoolmates who had bullied him in his youth has been jailed for life.
Reed Wischhusen, 32, ended up trying to shoot police at point blank range at the Avon and Somerset Constabulary headquarters in Portishead. A court heard the Lidl worker, who was obsessed with mass shootings and infamous murderers, had a list of targets and locations he was planning to go for, including a school.
Wischhusen had been making his own guns, ammunition and explosives at his home in Wick St. Lawrence, Somerset, and, when officers visited to check out why Wischhusen was buying blank ammunition online, they were confronted with chaotic scenes in November 2022. Bristol Crown Court heard officers discovered a "real house of horrors" as the Lidl depot worker first attempted to shoot himself, and then turned the gun on police, before he was shot and injured by police in self-defence.
He has since been found guilty of possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life and possessing a prohibited firearm without a certificate. The defendant had previously admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate. Today, Wischhusen was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 12 years.
Reed Wischhusen, who 'planned Columbine-style massacre', is pictured in a police uniform (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)Wischhusen had written a document, totalling 1,700 words, entitled Revenge, which detailed how he would carry out the three attacks. A psychiatric report was produced ahead of sentencing today.
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Sentencing the defendant at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Martin Picton said is a danger to society. He said: "It is important that people understand that this does not mean you will be released after that period of time. This is merely the minimum amount of time before which the parole board can consider you for release." The judge also paid tribute to the officers involved. He added: "They dealt with what was a truly traumatic event. They conducted themselves with selfless bravery, and the defendant owes them his life."
Police recovered this gun from Wischhusen's home in Somerset (Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)Adam Vaitalingham KC, defending, had agued a life sentence wasn't necessary. Mr Vaitaligham KC said: "Although he has been found by the jury to have the necessary intent to endanger life, but does that mean that a life sentence is almost automatic on the basis that a life sentence is the sentence for that offence?
"What's important in this case is that this was something that he had plainly ruminated about, but what he had actually done? You are sentencing someone who hadn't actually made a viable explosive device. He had some of the chemicals involved in that for a very long time, and not done anything.
"He had given up some of his weapons in a police amnesty and, when the police came to his house, he shot himself in the head and when that didn't work, he tried to get himself killed by the police instead."
Police bodycam footage captured the moment officers visited the Lidl worker's home (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)Speaking after he was convicted last month, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Dewfall said: "Reed Wischhusen’s plans are terrifying. Had he not been caught when he was, the consequences simply do not bear thinking about.
"He claimed his plans were merely fantasy but it’s clear he was actively working towards acting on them, with many of the items he identified as needing for his attacks recovered from his address. He had explosive substances and firearms capable of causing lethal harm while chillingly, he also had Avon and Somerset Police uniform."
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