Reed Wischhusen 'planned hitman-style attack to get revenge'

Jurors were shown a picture of Reed Wischhusen in a police-style uniform - he was not a police officer

A man with a "macabre" interest in mass shootings has dismissed his written plans to get revenge on his former classmates in a "hitman-style attack" as "fantasy", a court has heard.

Reed Wischhusen, 32, from Wick St Lawrence, is accused of firearms offences at Bristol Crown Court.

It is alleged he built up an "armoury" of homemade weapons and was planning to attack a police HQ and ex-classmates.

Police shot him after he pointed a gun at them at his home, jurors were told.

It is alleged Mr Wischhusen, a supermarket warehouse worker, planned to kill 10 people using a converted pistol, listing former classmates, teachers and police staff as targets - people he believed had wronged him in the past.

He then planned to walk into his old school in Worle, the Priory School, to shoot and kill teachers, jurors were told.

Jurors were told the defendant planned to kill teachers at his old school

It is alleged Mr Wischhusen, who is fascinated with infamous killers, compiled homemade weapons including pistols, sub-machine guns and a shotgun, as well as ammunition, bombs, grenades and poison, to be kept at his home.

He said in a police interview this year his plans were a "fantasy story" to "amuse" himself, jurors were told.

Mr Wischhusen's response came after a police officer asked him in March if his weapons arsenal and hit list had amounted to something "more sinister", the court was told.

Body camera footage of a police search of the defendant's house on 28 November last year was shown to the court earlier.

In the video, Mr Wischhusen can be seen asking to use his upstairs toilet while dressed in a warehouse coat.

What sounds like the noise of a gun cocking is then heard, before he emerges pointing what appears to be a loaded modified pistol at two officers.

Reed Wischhusen is on trial at Bristol Crown Court

"The officers have described how they believed that they were about to die, and how the incident left them in shock and suffering trauma," Jonathan Rees KC, prosecuting, told the court.

Mr Wischhusen was shot three times and restrained by officers, Mr Rees said. The defendant spent four months in hospital and was then arrested.

Police found a homemade machine gun, two small black handguns, police uniform, badges, handcuffs and a large hunting knife in the property, jurors heard.

The court was also told police found dangerous explosive chemicals and substances, as well as manuals and guides on how to make weapons, ammunition and grenade launchers.

'Dark secret'

Mr Rees told the court: "His quiet house contained a dark secret.

"Mr Wischhusen, who had a macabre interest in infamous killers such as Thomas Hamilton of Dunblane, and also in mass shootings and bombings such as the Columbine Shooting, set about attempting unlawfully to build - in his own words - a 'small armoury' of firearms."

The prosecutor said the defendant took "real, concrete steps" to compile weapons and his writings about them were "no fantasy at all".

It is alleged Mr Wischhusen then planned to attack the Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead, near Bristol, with pressure cooker bombs and sub-machine guns before killing himself.

Jurors were shown an image of Mr Wischhusen wearing a police-style uniform and carrying what appears to be a gun. He was not a police officer.

They were told the defendant said he bought the uniform online to "get back" at Avon and Somerset Police staff, who rejected an application by him in 2011 to become a volunteer officer.

Mr Wischhusen denies having an explosive substance with intent to endanger life, having an explosive substance, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life and possessing a prohibited firearm without a certificate.

The trial continues.