A gun enthusiast who was obsessed with criminals and had drawn up a plan to carry out a mass shooting disguised as a police officer, has been convicted of several firearms and explosives charges.
Reed Wischhusen, 32, was himself shot by police officers after he charged down the stairs at his home in the village of Wick St. Lawrence in Somerset with a pistol pointed at them.
Wischhusen—who was obsessed with Dunblane gunman Thomas Hamilton and Northumberland killer Raoul Moat—had been angered when he was denied a shotgun certificate by Avon and Somerset Police.
On Nov. 28, 2022, armed police officers arrived at the home he shared with his father after receiving intelligence, the Lidl warehouse worker was converting blank-firing pistols to fire live ammunition.
When Wischhusen’s house was searched, police found several weapons, as well as body armour and a deactivated hand grenade.
Shot Himself and Then Charged at Police
After miraculously surviving the shot, Wischhusen charged down the stairs toward the police, hoping they would “finish the job” by killing him.
On Friday a jury at Bristol Crown Court found Wischhusen guilty 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.
During the trial one of the firearms officers described the sheer terror he felt as Wischhusen rushed toward him and his colleagues.
Two officers, identified only as P3 and L4, arrived at the house to carry out a search.
As P3 tried to follow Wischhusen up the stairs he heard a shot from the bathroom and he ran downstairs, shouting “Withdraw.”
L4, who had remained downstairs with two other officers, said, “In my mind, I did a risk assessment very quickly and I withdrew my handgun and covered the stairs where I perceived the threat to be.”
“It was really quick, and I was concerned I didn’t know where Reed was. There was also a degree of concern that I didn’t know what had happened to him,” he added.
L4 said: “I shouted for him to come to the top of the stairs. After a short amount of time—it was so quick—he came to the top of the stairs as I shouted for him to do. He had handgun and pointed directly at me.”
‘I Thought I was Going to die’
An emotional L4 replied: “I thought I was going to die. I can recall saying things like, ‘Drop the gun, put the gun down, armed police.’”Mr. Rees asked: “Did he do that?”
L4 replied: “No. He rushed downstairs toward me.”
He said Wischhusen still had his gun pointed at him, so he fired two shots and withdrew from the house.
“It happened so quickly. I withdrew toward the door at the same time. I fired a further shot, and then he dropped to the ground,” he added.
Mr. Rees asked: “Why did you fire a third shot?”
L4 replied: “Because he was still coming toward me, and he was still there with the handgun pointed at me.”
Wischhusen survived his injuries and after he was taken into custody the police found an armoury of homemade weapons including pistols, sub-machine guns, ammunition, bombs, grenades and poison.
They also found a document entitled “Revenge,” in which Wischhusen plotted out his plan to kill ten named people against whom he bore a grudge.
When he gave evidence, Wischhusen demonstrated to the jury with his fingers how he cocked his gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger.
“I partially lost consciousness and I could hear ‘shots fired’ on the radio and sounding like someone falling down the stairs,” he said.
Wischhusen added: “So I knew the police had drawn their guns, so I went downstairs and threatened them so they would shoot me dead and finish the job.”
He told the court he had bought the tools to build his own weapons after Avon and Somerset Police twice rejected his application for a shotgun certificate.
“I decided if I could not have a shotgun for clay pigeon shooting, then I will build myself a sub-machine gun to prove a point,” Wischhusen added.
Judge Martin Picton said he would sentence Wischhusen on December 15, after receiving psychiatric reports.
PA Media contributed to this report.
