Gunman accused of planning a ‘Columbine-style’ massacre found guilty of all charges

A gunman who assembled an arsenal of weapons over a decade and planned a ‘Columbine-style’ attack has been found guilty of all charges.

Reed Wischhusen, 32, from Wick St Lawrence, near Weston-super-Mare, was convicted by a jury after of multiple counts including ‘attempting to endanger life’ by storing firearms, ammunition and explosives at his home.

He had already admitted other charges of ‘possession’ and will be sentenced in December.

The defendant had drawn up the ‘kill-list’ of former classmates and others he wanted to target, a jury was told.

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.”

The ‘chilling’ documents were found by cops after they attended his home in Wick St Lawrence, near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on 28 November last year.

The trial heard they were following up intelligence that he had purchased blank weapons capable of being converted into viable firearms.

But during the visit, the defendant took himself to the bathroom and shot himself behind his ear.

He then rushed at cops while pointing a gun at them - and was shot three times.

One of the firearms officers told the trial he “thought I was going to die” during the incident.

But Wischhusen told the jury that pointing the gun was a “suicide” attempt and he wanted police to “finish the job”. He was arrested and charged with multiple offences after spending four months recovering in hospital.

Giving evidence during the trial, the defendant accepted he had a long fascination with guns and had a number of weapons, including an antique shotgun that hung on his wall and a “homemade” submachine gun. He was also storing chemicals that could be used to make IEDs, the court heard.

He had dropped other weaponry into a police amnesty six months before the incident - and claimed he built the weapons to “prove a point” after being rejected twice for a licence.

He also denied claims he ever had intentions to make explosives or build a bomb.

But 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 ten 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

Wischhusen will now be sentenced for all charges on December 15.