UK Columbiner shot by cops
Typically, I don’t do stories from outside the US anymore. I’ve never traveled abroad, so my understanding of local culture and customs could be way off. Plus, the problems within the US keep me pretty busy as it is. However, when I read this story out of the UK, I just had to post about it.
32-year-old Reed Wischhusen lived in the village of Wick St. Lawrence in England. He worked in the warehouse of Lidl. For us Yanks, Lidl is a competitor to Aldi. As is typical with these stories, he was described as the shy and quiet type.
But behind the quiet was an obsession with guns and violent events like the Dunblane and Columbine shootings. For those who may be unfamiliar with the Dunblane massacre, Dunblane was the UK’s Columbine before Columbine even happened. By that, I mean that it was as much of a turning point in UK history as Columbine was for the US, but the UK actually acted on the tragedy.
Again, this makes him a Columbiner, which is someone who has an unhealthy admiration for the Columbine shooters.
In 1996, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 students and one teacher at the Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, Scotland. Hamilton was accused of acting inappropriately with boys in the Scouts, including taking inappropriate pictures of them. These accusations supposedly led to him being blacklisted from the Scouts Association and also led to his business collapsing. And like a true school shooting coward, Hamilton took out his revenge on innocents.
In the wake of Dunblane, the UK cracked down on private firearm ownership, and there hasn’t been a school shooting in the UK since. Meanwhile, it’s damn near a weekly occurrence in the US. But, let’s get back to Reed Wischhusen.
In November 2022, police received a tip about Wischhusen possibly having illegal guns in his home. When they went to his ‘unclean and neglected’ home, Wischhusen put on his work coat and went to the bathroom. While in there, Wischhusen tried to shoot himself behind the ear with a homemade pistol. While he did shoot himself behind the ear, the bullet didn’t do the damage he was looking for, so he charged at police with the gun instead. They had no choice except to fire on him, striking him in the chest. While police subdued him, Wischhusen kept saying he wanted to die. Spoiler alert: he survived.
After searching the home, police found a homemade machine gun, two small black handguns, a police uniform, badges and handcuffs, and a large hunting knife, among other things.
And of course, police also found the true sign of most would be school shooters, the coward’s codex, the manifesto. Wischhusen wanted to get revenge on his secondary school bullies and the police. The bullies because, of course, he did, and the police because they not only turned him down for a firearms license, but they also denied his application to be a volunteer constable.
First, allow me to address the bullying issue. Yes, bullying sucks and is a plague on schools everywhere, and can lead to extreme mental health issues. You don’t have to tell me, I lived it. But, if you’re still obsessing over your bullies at the age of 32, you need to seek professional help because that is extremely unhealthy. And the UK has universal healthcare, so you have a better chance of getting help than in the US. Not to mention, if you went to shoot up your old school, that’s not where your bullies are. At that point, you’re just showing how much of a coward you really are.
Wischhusen’s plan to get revenge on police was what can only be described as grandiose. After he ‘successfully’ escapes the school shooting, he intended to go to the local police department during the chaos. While there, his plan was to set off the fire alarms, then shoot and bomb anyone as staff exited the building. Then his plan was to steal an access card from one of his victims to enter the building and set off a bomb before taking his own life. Ambitious, to say the least. This plan had a zero chance of working. Especially when his weapons looked like this…
If someone came up to me holding that, I’d ask him if he was here to caulk my windows.
If he was even able to fire a shot from his ‘machine gun’ at a police department, he would have been struck down in the most hellacious hail of bullets. Oh wait, this is the UK. The amount of billy clubs used would make it look like a police piñata party.
His plan for revenge against his non-police enemies was just as fantastical as the police plan was. He intended to track down these ten people on his hitlist while wearing a disguise and a wig, and shooting them with a converted pistol equipped with a silencer.
These are the plans of an angsty 13-year-old. If fictionalized, the plans wouldn’t even be worthy of a straight to VHS action movie from the 1980s.
Fast-forward to last week and Wischhusen was convicted of 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. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
In my opinion, situations like this arise due to a combination of two things, ego and isolation. Too many younger men think they’re the main character in the story of the world. When it comes to social interactions, guys like this refuse to make any concessions when it comes to making friends or finding partners. They need anyone they interact with regularly to have the exact same interests and opinions as them. They’re not looking for friends or partners, but sycophants and submissives instead. All this while offering little to nothing in return.
When they don’t find someone who fits their ideal as an equal, they gather in online echo chambers while complaining about ‘normies’ and ‘Chads‘. I’m not saying that’s what happened here, but it wouldn’t shock me if it did.
As the saying goes, perfection is the enemy of good. If you’re holding out for the ideal partner or friend, you’re going to be alone for a long time. The problem isn’t them, it’s you. You need people in your life to ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ and tell you when something like building guns in your shed is a bad idea.
I’m not saying you have to settle for a partner or friend, but you do have to be realistic. Also, you’re not God’s gift to the universe. You need to keep that ego in check, or you’ll be, as the memes say, forever alone.
(Sources)
