Question: Mick Ranger is an Essex, UK based firearms dealer, and previously sold Michael Ryan the Chinese "Type 56" copy of AK-47 rifle that he used in 1987 to kill eight people during the Hungerford massacre, was a series of random shootings in Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom, on which date?
Context: The Cumbria shootings was a killing spree that occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, Derrick Bird, killed 12 people and injured 11 others before killing himself in Cumbria, England.  Along with the 1987 Hungerford massacre, the 1989 Monkseaton shootings, and the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, it is one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history. The Hungerford massacre was a series of random shootings in Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom, on 19 August 1987, when Michael Robert Ryan, an unemployed antique dealer and handyman, fatally shot 16 people, before taking his own life.  The shootings, committed using a handgun and two semi-automatic rifles, occurred at several locations, including a school he had once attended.  A police officer died in the incident, and many people were injured.  15 other people were also shot but survived.  No firm motive for the killings has ever been established, although one psychologist has theorised Ryan's motive for the massacre had been a form of "anger and contempt for the ordinary life" around him, which he himself was not a tangible part of. The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic carbine chambered for the 7.62×39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov.  Its complete designation, SKS-45, is an initialism for Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 (Russian: Самозарядный карабин системы Симонова , 1945; Self-loading Carbine of (the) Simonov system, 1945).  The SKS-45 was manufactured at Tula Arsenal from 1949-1958 and at Izhevsk Arsenal in just 1953 and 1954, resulting in a total Soviet production of about 2.7 million carbines.  In the early 1950s, the Soviets took the SKS carbine out of front-line service and replaced it with the AK-47; however, the SKS remained in second-line service for decades.  It is still used as a ceremonial firearm today.  The SKS was widely exported, and was also licensed for production by then Eastern Bloc nations, Romania and East Germany, as well as China, where it was designated the "Type 56 Carbine".  The East German version was known as the Karabiner S, the Albanian as the Model 561 and North Korean as the "Type 63".  The SKS is popular on the civilian surplus market as a hunting and marksmanship semi-automatic rifle in many countries, including the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.  Its age and numbers make it relatively inexpensive to purchase, and steel cased 7.62x39mm ammunition is one of the least expensive center fire cartridges currently on the market.  The SKS was the second firearm to be chambered for the 7.62×39mm M43 round, with the first being the RPD. Baron Portal of Hungerford, of Hungerford in the County of Berkshire, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.  It was created in 1945 for Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal upon his retirement as Chief of the Air Staff, with remainder in default of male issue to his daughter, Rosemary Portal, and the heirs male of her body.  In 1946 Portal was further honoured when he was created Viscount Portal of Hungerford, of Hungerford in the County of Berkshire, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, with normal remainder to the male issue of his body.  The viscountcy became extinct on Lord Portal of Hungerford's death in 1971 as he left no surviving sons, while he was succeeded in the barony according to the special remainder by his daughter Rosemary.  She sat as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords.  However, Lady Portal of Hungerford died without issue, and the barony became extinct on her death. The Monkseaton shootings occurred on 30 April 1989 in Monkseaton, North Tyneside, United Kingdom, when Robert Sartin killed one man and left 14 other people injured during a 20-minute shooting spree.  It remains, along with the 1978 crimes of Barry Williams, 1987 Hungerford massacre, 1996 Dunblane massacre and the 2010 Cumbria shootings, one of the worst criminal atrocities involving firearms in British history. The QBB-95 (Type 95) () is the light support weapon variant of the Chinese Type 95 family.  Based on the QBZ-95, the standard issue to most PLA units, most parts and ammunition of them are interchangeable (while small number of units are issued with Type 56, Type 81, or Type 03 Assault rifle, the latter of which also chambers the same 5.8×42mm DBP87 round).  This family includes a standard Assault rifle variant, a compact carbine variant and this particular light support weapon/Squad automatic weapon variant.  The longer, heavier barrel and 80-round drum magazine of the QBB-95 allow sustained firing, however the standard 30-round box magazine is also compatible. Mick Ranger is an Essex, UK based firearms dealer.  He previously sold Michael Ryan the Chinese "Type 56" copy of AK-47 rifle that he used in 1987 to kill eight people during the Hungerford massacre. The Chinese Norinco Type 56 is a Chinese 7.62×39mm assault rifle.  It is a variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 and AKM assault rifles. Production started in 1956 at State Factory 66, and since then it has been produced by Norinco, who continue to produce the rifle primarily for export. Imperial Defence Services Ltd was a British based, privately owned firearms manufacturer.  Born in 1947, Mick Ranger runs Imperial Defence Services, which is based in the Essex village of Takeley.  His firm has operations in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Nigeria, Australia, South Africa and Vietnam.  The company website states: An AK-22 "Trainer" is a semi-automatic rifle loosely based upon the AK-47 in its design, and chambered in .22 long rifle calibre.  The firearm currently sold on the civilian market in the United States of America dubbed as the AK-22 "Trainer" is manufactured in Romania by "S.C. Uzinele Mecanice Cugir S.A".  Despite the common belief, the AK-22 is not normally used to train regular troops either in Romania or in other countries.  While until recently the use of rimfire rifles replicating the standard service rifles in its dimensions and features had been common in several countries for training soldiers in basic firearms handling and marksmanship, at present this use has been abandoned due to the enormous availability of service weapons and ammunition already in stock, and the fact that a rimfire rifle, with its low recoil, doesn't help accustom a recruit to the recoil of the regulation rifle they will use in their normal service life; rimfire rifles are however used in many countries for basic firearms handling and standard marksmanship training within Armed Forces' "Youth Corps" (Cadets).  The AK-22 is thus intended merely as a civilian sporter rifle.  Its average price ranges within 200 and 500 US$.
Answer: 19 August 1987