Suicide
Inside the John O'Gaunt Community Technology College (closed and empty at that time of year for summer holidays), where he had previously been a pupil, Michael Ryan barricaded himself in a classroom. Police surrounded the building and found that a number of ground-staff and two children had seen Ryan enter, and they offered guidance on how to enter, and hiding places. Negotiators made contact with Ryan only after the shooter had taken potshots at circling helicopters. At one point Ryan waved what appeared to be an unpinned grenade at them through the window, though reports differ as to whether Ryan really was armed as such. Police attempted negotiations to coax Ryan out of the school, but these attempts failed. Ryan refused to leave before knowing what happened to his mother, expressing that her death was "a mistake". At 18:52, Ryan committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with the Beretta pistol. One of the statements Ryan made towards the end of the negotiations was widely reported: "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. I wish I had stayed in bed."
Read more about this topic: Hungerford Massacre
Famous quotes containing the word suicide:
“It is suicide to be abroad. But what is it to be at home, Mr. Tyler, what is it to be at home? A lingering dissolution.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Unless democracy is to commit suicide by consenting to its own destruction, it will have to find some formidable answer to those who come to it saying: “I demand from you in the name of your principles the rights which I shall deny to you later in the name of my principles.””
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“When one realizes that his life is worthless he either commits suicide or travels.”
—Edward Dahlberg (1900–1977)