BRISTOL, ENGLAND – A man who dressed as a fake police officer and plotted to attack a police headquarters, as well as shooting former teachers and ex-schoolmates, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 12 years. Reed Wischhusen, 32, had planned to carry out his attacks at the Avon and Somerset Constabulary headquarters in Portishead and had compiled a list of targets that included a school.
Jurors heard that Wischhusen had a “macabre interest” in mass killers and had built firearms and explosives to carry out a “hitman-style attack” on his former school and his former bullies. His plans were only stopped when officers visited his home and confronted a chaotic Wischhusen, who attempted to shoot himself in the head in front of them.
Wischhusen had collected an armor of homemade weapons including pistols, sub-machine guns, and a shotgun, as well as ammunition, bombs, grenades, and poison. When searching his property, police found equipment in his outhouse to manufacture the weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
In his “revenge” document, Wischhusen outlined his plans to carry out attacks on his former school and police headquarters, with the intention to kill himself at the end. He denied the plot, claiming it was all “fantasy”, but his denials were rejected, and he was found guilty of multiple charges related to weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
Andrew Pritchard, from the Crown Prosecution Service South West, stated that Wischhusen had a macabre interest in mass shootings and, had he not been stopped, had the means to enact his deadly plan with terrible consequences. Wischhusen’s intention was to send a brutal and violent message to those he felt had wronged him throughout his life. He has now been ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years’ imprisonment.