Lidl worker fascinated with Dunblane killer planned mass shooting at old school

13 October 2023 , 11:30

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Reed Wischhusen dressed in a police uniform (Image: Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

A supermarket worker who was fascinated by mass shootings and planned a hitman-style attack at his old school, spent four months in hospital after charging down the stairs at his home towards police with a gun.

Reed Wischhusen was accused of possessing explosives, firearms and ammunition, which were discovered when police searched his home in Wick St Lawrence, Somerset, in November last year. Today, a jury found him guilty of all charges.

The court heard that during a search of the Lidl warehouse worker home, Wischhusen attempted to take his own life in the bathroom with a pistol he had hidden in his coat, he then ran at armed officers pointing the gun at them. The police officers fired three times, hitting Wischhusen twice. He was seriously injured and spent four months recovering in hospital.

Prosecutors alleged that 32-year-old Wischhusen was fascinated with mass shootings and infamous killers such as the Dunblane gunman, Thomas Hamilton and Raoul Moat. He has admitted writing a document entitled "Revenge", which describes a "hitman-style attack" on his former school, but insists it was all a fantasy.

He was shot by police (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

The four-page document details targeting people who had bullied Wischhusen at school, as well as Avon and Somerset Police firearms licencing staff who twice rejected his shotgun certificate application. It lists the types of weapons and explosives required to carry out such attacks, though Wischhusen insists he had no intention of harming anyone named in it.

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He told the trial he had 'hated' all the individuals on the list - but claimed he was too much of a "coward" to carry out what he described as a "fantasy." Prosecutors argued that the 'revenge' document had outlined his murderous intentions - and said he was 'building' the weaponry needed to turn it into a reality.

In it, he wrote the first phrase would be a "hitman style attack" where he would use a range of disguises to give him a "more Arab look." He said he begin by using a "converted pistol with a silencer" for the 10 named victims. He then outlined different scenarios for the next phrase of his attack. One included a "diversion stage" where he would "get back at the school, walk in and shoot a few teachers dead, and throw a pipe bomb or two to stir things up."

Another scenario he wrote would involve triggering the fire alarm at Avon and Somerset Police HQ and "plant pressure cooker bombs at the fire assembly point and detonate them, then open fire at staff with submachine guns etc." He said he would then access the building with a stolen ID before setting up a gas explosion and then committing suicide with the shotgun.

Handgun Reed Wischhusen was holding when he was shot by police (PA)

He wrote: "Hopefully the gas explosion would destroy a good chunk of the building just like the Oklahoma bombing in 1995 but a very mini version." Another scenario he wrote about was to "ambush and kill (police) staff sitting outside" before going "room to room shooting at office staff."

He said he would then open fire out the windows and throw pipe bombs while "remotely detonating the pressure cooker bombs planted around the building" before taking his own life. He wrote: "This sounds the best one - a Columbine style attack."

He also documented the huge arsenal of weapons - including homemade guns and explosives and other equipment - he would use in the attacks. In the document, he also 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."
The trial heard that alongside his firearms he also stored vast quantities of chemicals that could be used to create ‘IEDs’, a court heard.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees KC told the jury said over a "sustained period of time" the defendant had developed a "macabre interest in infamous killers" such as Thomas Hamilton, the Dunblane shooter, Raoul Moat, and American cop killer Ralph Mclean. He said he also obsessed about mass shootings and bombings such as Columbine and the Oklahoma bombing.

Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Reed Wischhusen (PA)

Mr Rees added: "This defendant sought unlawfully to build a small armoury of firearms and explosives. As you will hear, he succeeded in part. The question for you is why he did that. The answer, according to a document he wrote in 2022, was revenge."

The defendant denied multiple firearms offences and says he never intended carrying out an attack - and described what he wrote as just a "fantasy." He told the jury: "I am too much of a coward to kill someone - to be honest - I didn't have it in me."
"It was not going to happen - I didn't have it in me to kill - I've never done anything like it."

He also claimed he never intended to cause any harm to the police who visited his home. He added: "I wanted them to shoot me dead - not to shoot them dead." In closing arguments, Mr Rees KC told the jury after acquiring such an arsenal his "promise" that it would remain a fantasy was "worthless."

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Police arresting him at home in Somerset (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

He said the defendant "accepted he had fantasies to kill" and told the jury "You don't have to decide if he had the intent to kill, but did he intend to put others lives in danger." Closing his case, Adam Vaitilingam KC, defending, told the jury his client had never intended to go out and kill people and described him as just a "bit of a sad character and a bit of a fantasist."

He said the reality was his client was just living in a "sad fantasy world."

Wischhusen had denied charges of having 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. They jury found him guilty on all counts.He had also denied a charge of having an explosive substance, but changed his plea to guilty during the trial. He had already pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate.

He pointed a gun at police (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

After the verdicts, which were a combination of majority and unanimous, Judge Martin Picton said: "In terms of where we go, I am not prepared to sentence without a pre-sentence report to look at the issue of dangerousness, in a psychiatric report. There are so many troubling features about the defendant's conduct."

He thanked the jury and told them it was a "difficult case." "The video footage was difficult to watch," he added. "What you didn't see was the extraordinary lengths police went to to save the defendant's life. It was impressive to see the dedication to preserve his life after he was shot. It was incredible to see the professionalism. This was a really sad case, troubling, and I need to know much more about the defendant."

He had previously admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate in relation to the handgun incident last year. Wischhusen will now be sentenced for all charges on December 15.

Adam Aspinall