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=== Murders of Margaret and Kathy Whitman ===
=== Murders of Margaret and Kathy Whitman ===
Whitman’s first victims were his mother, Margaret Whitman, and his wife, Kathleen Leissner Whitman.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://catapult.co/stories/listening-to-kathy#|title=Listening to Kathy {{!}} Jo Scott-Coe|date=2016-03-30|newspaper=Catapult|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref> Whitman killed both women<ref name=":1" /> between midnight and 3:00&nbsp;a.m. on August 1.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-madman-on-the-tower/|title=The Madman on the Tower|date=1986-07-31|newspaper=Texas Monthly|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref> In a note left at the scene of his wife’s murder, Whitman professed his love for Kathy and Margaret and indicated that he killed them to spare them from future embarrassment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9603965|title=Shootings Recall Horror at University of Texas|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref>
Whitman killed his mother Margaret Whitman, and his wife Kathleen Leissner Whitman,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://catapult.co/stories/listening-to-kathy#|title=Listening to Kathy {{!}} Jo Scott-Coe|date=2016-03-30|newspaper=Catapult|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> between midnight and 3:00&nbsp;a.m. on August 1.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-madman-on-the-tower/|title=The Madman on the Tower|date=1986-07-31|newspaper=Texas Monthly|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref> In a note left at the scene of his wife's murder, he professed his love for both women, saying he had killed them to spare them future humiliation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9603965|title=Shootings Recall Horror at University of Texas|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref>


On the same morning (August 1), Whitman rented a hand truck from Austin Rental Company and cashed $250 ({{Inflation|r=2|fmt=eq|cursign=$|US|250|1966|r=-2}}) worth of bad checks at a bank before driving to a hardware store, where he purchased a [[M1 carbine|Universal M1 carbine]], two additional [[Magazine (firearms)|ammunition magazines]] and eight boxes of ammunition, explaining to the cashier that he planned to hunt [[Boar|wild hogs]].<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 322">Time-Life Books 1993 p. 32</ref> Whitman then drove to Chuck's Gun Shop, where he purchased four further carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sniper Felt Killer Symptom in '64|last=Young|first=James|date=August 9, 1966|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=2}}</ref> He then drove to [[Sears Holdings Corporation|Sears]], where he purchased a Sears Model 60 [[Gauge (bore diameter)|12 gauge]] [[semi-automatic shotgun]] before returning home with his purchases.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VrwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xuwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2481,3916273&dq=charles+whitman+sears+rifle&hl=en|title=Whtiman's losing battle against hate, cruelty|last=Pett|first=Saul|date=August 15, 1966|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|page=7|author2=Loh, Jules}}</ref>
Later that morning, Whitman rented a hand truck and cashed $250 ({{Inflation|r=2|fmt=eq|cursign=$|US|250|1966|r=-2}}) worth of bad checks at a bank. He then drove to a hardware store, where he purchased a [[M1 carbine|Universal M1 carbine]], two additional [[Magazine (firearms)|ammunition magazines]] and eight boxes of ammunition, telling the cashier he planned to hunt [[Boar|wild hogs]].<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 322">Time-Life Books 1993 p. 32</ref> At a gun shop he purchased four further carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sniper Felt Killer Symptom in '64|last=Young|first=James|date=August 9, 1966|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=2}}</ref> He then drove to [[Sears Holdings Corporation|Sears]], where he purchased a Sears Model 60 [[Gauge (bore diameter)|12 gauge]] [[semi-automatic shotgun]] before returning home.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VrwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xuwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2481,3916273&dq=charles+whitman+sears+rifle&hl=en|title=Whtiman's losing battle against hate, cruelty|last=Pett|first=Saul|date=August 15, 1966|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|page=7|author2=Loh, Jules}}</ref>
[[File:Charles Whitman's arsenal.jpg|185px|thumb|The rifles and sawed-off shotgun used by Whitman in the massacre]]
[[File:Charles Whitman's arsenal.jpg|185px|thumb|The rifles and sawed-off shotgun used by Whitman in the massacre]]
Inside his garage, Whitman sawed off the barrel and butt stock of the 12-gauge shotgun and packed it into his footlocker, along with a [[Remington 700]] [[6mm Remington|6-mm]] bolt-action hunting rifle, a [[.35 Remington|.35-caliber]] pump rifle, a [[.30 Carbine|.30-caliber]] carbine (M1), a [[Luger P08 pistol|9-mm Luger pistol]], a [[Galesi-Brescia]] [[.25 ACP|.25-caliber]] pistol, a [[Smith & Wesson Model 19|Smith & Wesson M19]] [[.357 Magnum]] revolver, and over 700 rounds of ammunition. He had already packed his footlocker with food, coffee, vitamins, [[Dexedrine]], [[Excedrin]], earplugs, jugs of water, matches, lighter fluid, rope, binoculars, a [[machete]], three knives, a transistor radio, toilet paper, a razor, and a bottle of deodorant.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 312">{{harv|Time-Life Books|1993|p=31}}</ref> Before heading to the tower about 11:00&nbsp;a.m., Whitman dressed in khaki coveralls over his shirt and jeans.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Jv1pCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Mass Murders in America'' p. 28]</ref>
Inside his garage, Whitman sawed off the barrel and butt stock of the 12-gauge shotgun and packed it into his footlocker, along with a [[Remington 700]] [[6mm Remington|6-mm]] bolt-action hunting rifle, a [[.35 Remington|.35-caliber]] pump rifle, a [[.30 Carbine|.30-caliber]] carbine (M1), a [[Luger P08 pistol|9-mm Luger pistol]], a [[Galesi-Brescia]] [[.25 ACP|.25-caliber]] pistol, a [[Smith & Wesson Model 19|Smith & Wesson M19]] [[.357 Magnum]] revolver, and over 700 rounds of ammunition. He had already packed his footlocker with food, coffee, vitamins, [[Dexedrine]], [[Excedrin]], earplugs, jugs of water, matches, lighter fluid, rope, binoculars, a [[machete]], three knives, a transistor radio, toilet paper, a razor, and a bottle of deodorant.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 312">{{harv|Time-Life Books|1993|p=31}}</ref> Before heading to the tower about 11:00&nbsp;a.m., Whitman dressed in khaki coveralls over his shirt and jeans.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Jv1pCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Mass Murders in America'' p. 28]</ref>

Revision as of 21:18, 16 February 2017

University of Texas Tower Shooting
Main building of the University of Texas
LocationUniversity of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, U.S.
DateAugust 1, 1966 (1966-08-01)
Stabbing: c. 12:15 a.m. – 3:00 a.m.
Shooting: 11:48 a.m. – 1:24 p.m. (UTC-06:00)
Attack type
School shooting, mass shooting, familicide, matricide, uxoricide, mass murder, stabbing
Weapons
Deaths18 (including perpetrator)
Injured31
PerpetratorCharles Whitman

The University of Texas (UT) Tower Shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on August 1, 1966, at The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas.[1] Charles Whitman, a former Marine sharpshooter, climbed to the observation deck on the 28th floor of the UT Tower[1] with a sniper rifle, along with other weapons, and opened fire.

The attack lasted 96 minutes,[2] until Whitman was shot and killed by police officers.[3] A total of 14 people were killed in the attack, in addition to two people – Whitman’s mother and wife – whom he killed before the tower shooting. A 17th victim died in 2001 of the injuries he sustained in the attack.[4]

On August 1, 2016, the 50th anniversary of the shooting, a stone memorial inscribed with the victims' names[5] was installed on the university campus.[5]

Timeline of events

Murders of Margaret and Kathy Whitman

Whitman killed his mother Margaret Whitman, and his wife Kathleen Leissner Whitman,[6][5] between midnight and 3:00 a.m. on August 1.[7] In a note left at the scene of his wife's murder, he professed his love for both women, saying he had killed them to spare them future humiliation.[8]

Later that morning, Whitman rented a hand truck and cashed $250 (equivalent to $2,300 in 2023) worth of bad checks at a bank. He then drove to a hardware store, where he purchased a Universal M1 carbine, two additional ammunition magazines and eight boxes of ammunition, telling the cashier he planned to hunt wild hogs.[9] At a gun shop he purchased four further carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent.[10] He then drove to Sears, where he purchased a Sears Model 60 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun before returning home.[11]

The rifles and sawed-off shotgun used by Whitman in the massacre

Inside his garage, Whitman sawed off the barrel and butt stock of the 12-gauge shotgun and packed it into his footlocker, along with a Remington 700 6-mm bolt-action hunting rifle, a .35-caliber pump rifle, a .30-caliber carbine (M1), a 9-mm Luger pistol, a Galesi-Brescia .25-caliber pistol, a Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolver, and over 700 rounds of ammunition. He had already packed his footlocker with food, coffee, vitamins, Dexedrine, Excedrin, earplugs, jugs of water, matches, lighter fluid, rope, binoculars, a machete, three knives, a transistor radio, toilet paper, a razor, and a bottle of deodorant.[12] Before heading to the tower about 11:00 a.m., Whitman dressed in khaki coveralls over his shirt and jeans.[13]

Whitman arrives on campus

At approximately 11:25 a.m.,[14] Whitman arrived on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Showing false research assistant identification to security guard Jack Rodman, Whitman obtained a 40-minute parking permit, saying he was delivering equipment.[12] Whitman wheeled a rented dolly carrying his equipment toward the Main Building of the University.[15]

Entering the Main Building, Whitman found the elevator didn't work. An employee turned it on for him. Whitman thanked her, saying: "You don't know how happy that makes me."[9]

Whitman ascends the tower

Whitman lugged the dolly and equipment up the final flight of stairs to the hallway that led to a dog-legged stairway ascending to the rooms within the observation deck area.[16] In the reception area, Whitman encountered 51-year-old receptionist Edna Townsley. Whitman knocked her to the floor and hit her in the head with his rifle butt, splitting the back of her skull. He then struck Townsley above the left eye, causing a second fracture, before dragging her behind a couch.[17]

Shortly after Whitman attacked Townsley, he encountered Cheryl Botts and Don Walden. The couple had been outside on the observation deck and were on their way to the elevator when they entered the reception area. Walden noticed that Whitman was holding two guns and assumed that he was going out to the observation deck to shoot pigeons. Botts and Walden said hello to Whitman. He smiled and responded, “Hi, how are you?”[18] and watched the couple walk away. They never saw Townsley’s body, but Botts recalled noticing a dark stain on the floor near the reception desk.[18]

After Botts and Walden left, Whitman then barricaded the stairway.[19]

Before Whitman got out to the observation deck, two families came up the stairs behind him. Whitman shot at the families and killed 16-year-old Mark Gabour and his aunt, Marguerite Lamport, and injured Mary Frances and Michael Gabour.[14] Two family members – M.J. Gabour and William Lamport – were uninjured.[20] Whitman then killed Edna Townsley with a shot to the left side of her head before walking onto the observation deck.[21]

Mary Gabour later recollected that she and her sons had thought the barricade was in place for cleaning the reception area and that Whitman—still dressed in khaki overalls—was the janitor.[22]

Whitman opens fire from the observation deck

At 11:48 a.m., Whitman began shooting at people from the observation deck, which had a vantage point 231 feet (70 m) above ground level.[23] He targeted people on the UT campus and people walking on a section of Guadalupe Street locally known as the Drag, which was home to coffee shops, bookstores, and other student hangouts.

The first person Whitman shot outside of the tower was Claire James.[2] James and her boyfriend, Thomas Eckman, were walking out of the Chuck Wagon restaurant, which was located in the UT student union.[24] James was eight months pregnant and Whitman aimed directly at her stomach. The shot killed her unborn baby. Eckman was shot in the back-left shoulder, just beneath his neck,[24][25] as he attempted to help James. Eckman died instantly.[2]

He next shot Robert Boyer, a 33-year-old mathematician, who was killed instantly by a single shot to the lower back.[26]

After shooting Boyer, Whitman shot a 31-year-old student named Devereau Huffman in the right arm; Huffman fell wounded beside a hedge.[27] When Charlotte Darehshori, a young secretary, ran to help Boyer and Huffman, she came under fire. She crouched beneath the concrete base of a flagpole for an hour and a half, shielding herself from Whitman's view.[28] Nearby, Whitman shot David Gunby, a 23-year-old electrical engineering student walking in the courtyard.[29]

Whitman fatally shot Thomas Ashton, a 22-year-old, in the chest.[30] Next, he shot Adrian and Brenda Littlefield as they walked onto the South Mall. Two young women, Nancy Harvey and Ellen Evganides, were wounded as they walked down the West Mall. Whitman shot Harvey, who was five months pregnant, in the hip, and Evganides in the leg and thigh.[31] Both Harvey and her unborn child survived.

File:Karen Griffith August 1 1966.jpg
Karen Griffith, aged 17
File:Darehshori 1966 University of Texas.jpg
Charlotte Darehshori takes refuge behind the concrete base of a flagpole as a student hit by gunfire lies beside a hedge

Whitman began to fire upon people walking on Guadalupe Street; he shot and wounded 17-year-old newspaper delivery boy Alex Hernandez, before fatally wounding 17-year-old Karen Griffith[32] with a shot to the chest. The next victim was a 24-year-old senior named Thomas Karr, whom Whitman fatally shot in the back as he walked to his residence after completing an exam. On the third block, Whitman shot and wounded 35-year-old basketball coach Billy Snowden from a distance of over 1,500 feet (460 m). Nearby, he shot 21-year-old Sandra Wilson in the chest.[33]

On the corner of 24th and Guadalupe, Whitman shot and wounded two students, Abdul Khashab and his fiancée Janet Paulos, outside a dress shop. Khashab, a 26-year-old chemistry student from Iraq, was shot in the elbow and Paulos in the chest.[34] The next to be shot was a 21-year-old named Lana Phillips, whom Whitman wounded in the shoulder.[35] Phillips' sister ran from cover to drag Lana to safety.[36]

Whitman shot at David Mattson, Tom Herman, and Roland Ehlke, a trio of Peace Corps volunteers who were going to lunch on the Drag. Mattson had part of his wrist blown off.[37] Ehlke subsequently recalled that he heard Mattson scream as the bullet hit him in the wrist; the youth saw shrapnel from the shot had embedded into his own left arm. Ehlke was shot in the left biceps before he dove for cover. Ehlke emerged from cover to drag his friend to safety and was shot again in the leg.[38] A 64-year-old local shopkeeper named Homer Kelly helped drag the wounded duo—plus Herman—into his shop, before he was shot and wounded in the leg.[39]

To the rear of the intersection of 24th and Guadalupe, Whitman targeted two 21-year-olds, Oscar Royuela and Irma Garcia, as the pair walked toward the university's biology laboratory. Shot first, Garcia later said the bullet spun her "completely around" and she fell to the ground. Royuela tried to help Garcia when he was shot through the shoulder blade; the bullet exited through his left arm.[40] Students Jack Stephens and Jack Pennington ran from cover and dragged the pair to safety. Whitman targeted a 26-year-old carpenter named Avelino Esparza and seriously wounded him in the left shoulder.[41]

Directly in front of the entrance to the West Mall on Guadalupe Street, two 18-year-old students named Paul Sonntag and Claudia Rutt had taken refuge behind a construction barricade alongside teenager Carla Sue Wheeler. Whitman started shooting in that direction and hit Sonntag in the mouth, killing him instantly. Sonntag's body fell against a parking meter and knocked the barricade slightly open.[42] Rutt tried to reach Sonntag while Wheeler restrained her; Whitman shot a bullet that passed through Wheeler's left hand, and hit Rutt in the chest. Rutt died later in the hospital; Wheeler survived.[43]

A block north of where Sonntag and Rutt were killed, Whitman shot and killed Harry Walchuk, a 38-year-old doctoral student and father of six. He next shot 36-year-old press reporter Robert Heard in the arm as Heard ran toward two highway patrolmen coming on the scene. Slightly north, 18-year-old freshman John Allen was wounded in the forearm as he and acquaintances looked toward the tower from the University of Texas Union.

When electricians Roy Dell Schmidt and Solon McCown realized a sniper attack was under way, they took cover behind a parked car at University and 21st Street with fellow city of Austin employee Don Carlson. After about 30 minutes, Schmidt stood and assured the others they were out of range. Whitman immediately fired from more than 500 yards away and fatally shot 29-year-old Schmidt in the abdomen.[44] Schmidt was the fatality hit farthest from the tower.[45]

A 30-year-old ambulance technician named Morris Hohmann was shot in the leg on West 23rd Street as he tried to evacuate the numerous wounded. The wound severed a major artery.

Police notified

Having seen several students shot on the South Mall, a history professor was the first to telephone the Austin Police Department at 11:52 a.m.,[46] four minutes after Whitman had first fired from the tower. Austin patrolman Billy Speed was one of the first police officers to arrive at the University; he and a colleague took refuge behind a columned stone wall. Whitman shot through the six-inch spacing between the columns of the wall and killed Speed.

Austin police officer Houston McCoy, age 26, had been out on patrol when he got the call about the shooting on his radio. As McCoy looked for a way into the tower, a student approached and offered to help. The student said he had a rifle at home. McCoy drove the student back to his home to retrieve the rifle.[47]

Allen Crum, a 40-year-old retired Air Force tail gunner,[48] was a manager at the University Book Store Co-Op and was in the store when the shooting began. Across the street he saw a 17 year old newspaper delivery boy being dragged and went to break up what he thought was a fight. But Crum discovered the bleeding boy had been shot. As more shots rang out, Crum rerouted street traffic out of harm’s way.[48] Because of the gunfire, Crum was unable to make his way back to the store safely. Instead, he made his way to the tower, where he offered to help the police. Crum ended up going inside the tower, where he accompanied Department of Public Safety Agent Dub Cowan and Austin Police Officer Jerry Day up the elevator. Cowan provided Crum with a rifle before they went up.[49]

Around noon, Officer Ramiro “Ray” Martinez was at home and off duty when the shooting began.[50] He heard about the attack on the news and called the police station. He was asked to go to the campus and direct traffic.[51] When Martinez got closer to the campus, he found that other officers were already controlling traffic, so he decided to go to the tower.[52]

Martinez later said he assumed that there would be a team of officers at the tower, but when he reached the 27th floor he found only Cowan, Crum, and Day.[53]

Whitman’s position in the tower made it difficult for the responding officers to get to the tower safely.[54] Officers attempting to reach the tower by crossing the campus’ Main Mall were met with gunfire and forced to move slowly and take cover often.

To avoid being shot, a small group of officers — including Houston McCoy — began making their way to the tower via the campus’ underground maintenance tunnels.[55]

Students, citizens, and law enforcement officers shot at Whitman, while Martinez, Crum, and Day searched the 27th floor. The men encountered a distraught M.J. Gabour, who wanted a weapon so he could go after the sniper. Day was forced to remove Gabour.

Martinez started making his way up the stairs to the observation deck, and Crum insisted on covering him. Crum asked Martinez, “Are we playing for keeps?” Martinez said yes, and Crum asked Martinez to deputize him.[56]

Beneath the stairwell leading to the reception area, Officer Martinez saw the body of a teenaged boy, Mark Gabour. Next to him lay a middle-aged woman, Marguerite Lamport.[57] Nearby, Mike Gabour lay slumped against the wall, with his mother face down in a pool of blood. The officers turned Mary Gabour onto her side to prevent her from drowning in her own blood. Mike Gabour gestured to the observation deck and said: "He's out there."[58]

The body of Charles Whitman lies upon the observation deck

Martinez made it onto the observation deck first. He told Crum to remain at the door. McCoy and Day reached the observation deck a few minutes later. Day, after helping M.J. Gabour, had returned to the 27th floor. He realized Martinez had gone up to the observation deck and told McCoy. Then Day and McCoy went up to the observation deck.[59]

Whitman killed

Martinez shot at Whitman, emptying his revolver. McCoy shot Whitman twice with a shotgun. Martinez took the shotgun from McCoy and fired one last shot.

At 1:24 p.m. Crum waved a white flag from the tower to signal that the attack was over.[54]

Charles Whitman

Main article: Charles Whitman

Charles Joseph Whitman was a former Marine sharpshooter. At the time of the shooting, he was 25 years old[60] and was studying architectural engineering.[61]

Whitman was born and raised in Lake Worth, Florida. His father, Charles Adolphus “C.A.” Whitman, ran a successful plumbing business; his mother, Margaret Whitman, was a bookkeeper for the family’s business. Charles Whitman was the oldest of three brothers.[62] Whitman was raised Roman Catholic.[63] Whitman’s father was strict, and he was physically abusive to his sons and his wife.[62]

At 12 years old, Charles Whitman became the youngest person in the world to become an Eagle Scout.[64] Whitman was also extremely intelligent; at the age of six, he scored 139 on an IQ test.[65]

Whitman joined the Marines after he graduated from high school, and he was stationed in Guantanamo Bay. While there, he earned a Sharpshooter’s Badge, a Good Conduct medal, and a Marine Corps Expedition medal.[66]

In 1961, he was admitted to the University of Texas at Austin on a scholarship from the Naval Enlisted Science Education Program (NESP).[66] While at UT, Whitman met and married his wife, Kathleen. Whitman struggled with gambling and bad grades, and he lost his NESP scholarship in 1963.[67] At the time of the shooting, Whitman had been honorably discharged from the Marines.[67]

Before the attack, Whitman sought professional help for “overwhelming violent impulses”[61] and had fantasized about going to the top of the tower with a rifle and opening fire.[68] An autopsy revealed that Whitman had a brain tumor, but it is unknown whether the tumor contributed to his actions.[68][69]

Law enforcement response and preparedness

In August 1966, the University of Texas did not have a campus police force, and the campus security guards did not carry weapons.[70]

All active police officers in Austin were ordered to the campus. Off-duty officers, Travis County Sheriff's deputies, and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers also converged on the area.[71]

The Austin Police Department was “outgunned”[70] by Whitman and lacked the training[72] and firepower[70][73] necessary to handle a mass shooting. The responding officers’ service weapons were .38 revolvers, which were not a match for Whitman’s cache of shotguns, handguns, and sniper rifles.[74] The police did not have walkie-talkies once they left their patrol cars,[47] and they lacked protective gear.[75] Houston McCoy, one of the responding officers the day of the attack, said the police department had no plan in place for dealing with a mass shooting, and that he’d never heard of a bulletproof vest before the shooting.[76]

The event is believed to be one source of inspiration for the adoption of police SWAT teams in the U.S.[77][78][79][80]

Responding officers

Reserve Deputy Jim Boutwell – who was also a pilot and the owner of a small Austin-area airport,[81] volunteered to fly a single-engine airplane around the tower to help gather information and attempt to shoot at Whitman from a better vantage point. A sharpshooter on Boutwell’s plane, APD Lt. Marion Lee, was unable to hit Whitman due to turbulence, but the presence of the plane helped draw Whitman’s attention away from students and police officers on the ground.[82]

Jerry Day was one of the officers who made his way to the UT Tower in an attempt to stop Whitman.[83]

Ramiro “Ray” Martinez was the first officer to reach the observation deck to confront Whitman.[53] Along with Houston McCoy, Martinez was responsible for stopping Whitman’s attack.[20][84]

Houston McCoy was on patrol when he got the call about the shooting on his radio. He was the first officer to come to the scene after the attack started,[47] and, along with Martinez, he was responsible for firing on Whitman and stopping the attack.[84]

Milton Shoquist was among the group of officers, including Officers Phillip Conner, Houston McCoy, Harold Moe, and George Shepard,[85] to respond to the shooting by going through the tunnels. He had graduated from the police academy six months earlier. He later described the scene as “chaotic."

Billy Speed was fatally shot in the chest by Whitman as he took cover between a pair of stone columns.

W.A. “Dub” Cowan, a Texas Department of Public Safety intelligence agent, was among the officers to enter the UT Tower to attempt to stop the sniper. He handed civilian volunteer Allen Crum his rifle[85] when Crum insisted on helping the police offers there. He joined APD officers Shepard, Shoquist and Moe when they made their way upstairs to the observation deck.[86]

Citizen responses

Assisting police and helping the wounded

In an effort to help police stop the attack UT students and Austin residents brought their own guns[48] to campus and shot at the tower.[7] Officer Ramiro Martinez later credited the numerous civilian shooters for saving "many lives" by forcing Whitman to take cover, limiting his range of targets.[87]

Students and university staff worked to assist and move the wounded to safety, risking their lives. One student later recalled: "That was the moment that separated the brave people from the scared people [...] I realized I was a coward." Medical personnel used an armored car and provisioned ambulances from local funeral homes to reach the wounded.[37]Numerous volunteers donated blood at both Brackenridge Hospital and the Travis County Blood Bank.[71]

Allen Crum, a 40-year-old retired Air Force tail gunner,[48] was working at the University Book Store Co-Op when the shooting began. After helping an injured boy and diverting traffic,[48] he made his way to the tower, where he accompanied Ramiro Martinez to the observation deck.

Disbelief

Some witnesses didn’t realize what was happening even as they heard gunshots and saw victims fall to the ground. Some mistook the sound of Whitman’s rifle for the sound of nail guns and falling lumber at a nearby construction site.[7] Some thought the injured victims were part of a theater group[88] or an anti-war protest. Survivor Claire James recalled that as she lay bleeding on the pavement, a passerby reprimanded her and told her to “get up.”[2]

Freshman David Bayless recalled that he tried to warn a group of students exiting Batts Hall about the sniper, but they didn’t believe him.[2]

Investigations

Autopsy

In the days following the shootings, Texas Governor John Connally commissioned a task force of professionals to examine the physical autopsy findings and material related to Whitman's actions and motives.

On August 2, an autopsy was conducted upon the body of Charles Whitman. The autopsy revealed a brain tumor, approximately the size of a pecan. Initially, it was concluded that the tumor had no effect on Whitman's actions, but on August 5,[89] the Connally Commission said that the tumor could have had an influence on Whitman's actions. Some neurologists have since speculated that Whitman's medical condition was in some way responsible for the attacks.[90][91]

Victim aid

The Connally Commission recommended that the university and state aid the wounded and those affected by the events. Aid to survivors and the wounded was to include loans, with University of Texas and State of Texas agencies to temporarily assist those with medical and mental issues, and support rehabilitation. These recommendations, however, were not implemented by any agency of either the University or the State of Texas.[92]

Controversies

Ray Martinez was the first officer credited with killing Whitman;[93] his picture, captioned "Shoots Slayer", appeared on the front page of the Austin American Statesman/[94] Houston McCoy later claimed that it was his own shotgun pellets – not Martinez’s bullets – that killed Whitman.[95] Martinez has said that it doesn't matter who fired the fatal shot.[56][96] Both officers were awarded Medals of Valor from the city of Austin.[47]

On August 1, 2016 the "Campus Carry" law went into effect,[97] permitting the carrying of licensed handguns on Texas college and university campuses.[98] Supporters say the presence of "Good Guys with Guns" will deter violent crime.[99] Critics say the possible presence of concealed handguns will not deter most mass shooters.[99]

Casualties

A total of 17 people were killed, and 31 were injured in the attack.[100] The number of fatalities remained at 16 until 2001, when the 17th victim, David Gunby, died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the attack.[4]

Fatalities

2

Injuries

2

Legacy and memorials

Following the shootings the tower observation deck was closed. The various bullet holes were repaired and the tower reopened in 1968. It was closed again in 1975 following four suicides.[126] After a stainless steel lattice and other security measures were installed, it was again reopened in 1999 to by-appointment guided tours only, with visitors screened by metal detectors.[127][128]

In 2006 a Memorial Garden was dedicated to those who died or were otherwise affected.[129][130] A monument listing the names of the victims was added in 2016 on the shootings' fiftieth anniversary;[131] the tower’s clock was stopped for 24 hours beginning at 11:48 a.m.[132] The day was declared by the City of Austin as "Ramiro Martinez Day".[133]

In 2008 the following names‍—‌officers and civilians who helped stop Whitman‍—‌were added to a plaque on an Austin police precinct building.[134] (The list is recognized to be incomplete.)[135]

  • Officer Billy Paul Speed
  • Officer Phillip Conner
  • Officer Jerry Day
  • Lt. Marion Lee
  • Officer Ramiro Martinez
  • Officer Houston McCoy
  • Officer Harold Moe
  • Officer George Shepard
  • Officer Milton Shoquist
  • Department of Public Safety Agent W.A. Cowan
  • Jim Boutwell
  • Allen Crum
  • Frank Holder
  • William Wilcox

Film

  • There is a reference to the shooting in the 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket."
  • Charles Whitman is also mentioned in the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.[136]
  • The 2016 film Tower is an animated documentary about the event.[137]
  • Peter Bogdanovich's 1968 film Targets features a character based on Charles Whitman and the UT Tower Shooting.[138]

Television

  • The Mad Men episode "Signal 30" references the UT tower shooting.[139]
  • 1975 TV Movie The Deadly Tower featured Kurt Russell as Whitman, Ned Beatty as Allan Crum, and Richard Yniguez as Ramiro Martinez.

[140]

Music

  • Harry Chapin's song "Sniper" was inspired by the UT tower shooting.[141]
  • Singer, humorist, and politician Kinky Friedman wrote a song about the shooting called "The Ballad of Charles Whitman."[142]
  • "El Policía del Austin: Acción Heroica de Ramiro Martínez," written and produced by singer-songwriter José Morante, describes Martinez's day atop the UT Tower on August 1, 1966. Morante also wrote "Tragedia en Austin."[143]

See also

2

References

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