University of Texas tower shooting


On August 1, 1966, after stabbing his mother and his wife to death the night before, Charles Whitman, a former Marine, took rifles and other weapons to the observation deck atop the Main Building tower at the University of Texas at Austin, then opened fire indiscriminately on people on the surrounding campus and streets. Over the next 96 minutes he shot and killed 14 people and injured 31 others. One final victim died from his injuries in 2001. The incident ended when a policeman and a civilian reached Whitman and shot him dead. At the time, the attack was the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history, being surpassed 18 years later by the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre.
It has been suggested that Whitman's violent impulses, with which he had been struggling for several years, were caused by a tumor found in the white matter above his amygdala upon autopsy.

Charles Whitman

Charles Whitman, 25, was studying architectural engineering. In 1961 Whitman was admitted to the University of Texas at Austin on a scholarship from the Naval Enlisted Science Education Program. While at UT, Whitman met and married his wife, Kathleen. Whitman struggled with gambling and bad grades, and he lost his scholarship in 1963.
In the months prior to the attack, Whitman had sought professional help for "overwhelming, violent impulses", including fantasies about shooting people from the tower.
An autopsy conducted after his death revealed a hypothalamic tumor.

Timeline

Murders of Margaret and Kathy Whitman

Whitman killed his mother, Margaret Whitman, and his wife, Kathleen Leissner Whitman, between midnight and 3:00 a.m. on August 1. In a note he professed his love for both women, saying he had killed them to spare them future humiliation and—in the case of his mother—suffering.
Later that morning, Whitman rented a hand truck and cashed $250 worth of bad checks at a bank. He then drove to a hardware store, where he purchased a.30 caliber Universal M1 carbine, two additional ammunition magazines, and eight boxes of ammunition, telling the cashier he planned to hunt wild hogs. At a gun shop he purchased four more carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent. At Sears he purchased a Sears Model 60 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun before returning home.
Whitman then packed into his footlocker a Remington 700 6-mm bolt-action hunting rifle, a.35-caliber pump rifle, the M1 carbine, a 9-mm Luger pistol, a Galesi-Brescia.25-caliber pistol, a Smith & Wesson M19.357 Magnum revolver, the shotgun, of which he had sawn off the barrel and buttstock, as well as more than 700 rounds of ammunition. He also packed 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. He put khaki coveralls on over his shirt and jeans.

Whitman arrives on campus

At approximately 11:25 a.m., Whitman reached the University of Texas at Austin, where he showed false research assistant identification to obtain a parking permit. Whitman wheeled his equipment toward the Main Building of the University.
Entering the Main Building, Whitman found the elevator did not work. An employee named Vera Palmer activated it for him; Whitman thanked Palmer, stating, "Thank you ma'am", before repeatedly saying: "You don't know how happy that makes me."
Exiting the elevator on the 27th floor, he hauled the dolly and equipment up a flight of stairs to a hallway, from which another flight led to the rooms skirted by the observation deck. There he encountered receptionist Edna Townsley.

Persons killed or injured

Police actions

Some mistook the sound of shots for the noise from a nearby construction site, or thought that persons falling to the ground were part of a theater group or an anti-war protest. One victim recalled that as she lay bleeding a passerby reprimanded her and told her to "Get up."
Among those who grasped the situation, many risked their lives to take the wounded to safety. Ambulances from local funeral homes and an armored car were used to reach the wounded.
Four minutes after Whitman began shooting from the tower, a history professor was the first to telephone the Austin Police Department, at 11:52 am. Patrolman Billy Speed, one of the first officers to arrive, took refuge with a colleague behind a columned stone wall. Whitman shot through the six-inch space between the columns of the wall and killed Speed.
Officer Houston McCoy, 26, heard of the shooting on his radio. As he looked for a way into the tower, a student offered to help, saying he had a rifle at home. McCoy drove the student to his home to retrieve the rifle.
Allen Crum, a 40-year-old retired Air Force tail gunner, was a manager at the University Book Store Co-Op. Across the street he saw a 17-year-old newspaper boy being dragged and went to break up what he thought was a fight. Learning the boy had been shot, and hearing more shots, Crum rerouted street traffic out of harm's way. Unable to make his way back to the store safely, he then made his way to the tower, where he offered to help the police. Inside the tower, he accompanied Department of Public Safety Agent Dub Cowan and Austin Police Officer Jerry Day up the elevator; Cowan provided Crum with a rifle.
Around noon, Officer Ramiro "Ray" Martinez was off duty at home when he heard about the attack on the news. Having called the police station, he was instructed to go to the campus and direct traffic. Once there, he found other officers already doing that, so he went to the tower.
He assumed he would find a team of officers there, but when he reached the 27th floor, he found only Cowan, Crum, and Day.
Officers attempting to reach the tower were forced to move slowly and take cover often, but a small group of officers including Houston McCoy began making their way to the tower via underground maintenance tunnels.
Officers and several civilians provided suppressive fire from the ground with small weapons and hunting rifles, forcing Whitman to stay low and fire through storm drains at the foot of the observation deck's wall. A police sharpshooter in a small plane was driven back by Whitman's return fire but continued to circle at a distance, seeking to distract Whitman and further limit his freedom to choose targets.
Martinez, Crum, and Day searched the 27th floor, where they found M. J. Gabour; Day removed him. Martinez started up the stairs to the observation deck, and Crum insisted on covering him, asking Martinez to deputize him first.
Beneath the stairwell leading to the reception area, Martinez found Marguerite Lamport, Mark Gabour, Mary Gabour, and Mike Gabour. Mike Gabour gestured to the observation deck, saying: "He's out there."
Martinez reached 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. At some point Crum accidentally fired his rifle.
Around 1:24 pm, while Whitman was looking south for the source of the rifle shot, Martinez and McCoy rounded the northeastern corner of the observation deck. Martinez fired on Whitman with his revolver, missing, and McCoy hit Whitman twice with his shotgun. Martinez then took McCoy's shotgun from him, having emptied his own weapon, and fired a final shot into Whitman at point-blank range. In the immediate aftermath, Martinez was nearly shot himself by those on the ground, who did not yet realize that Whitman was dead.

Legacy and memorials

Martinez and McCoy were awarded Medals of Valor by the city of Austin.
Following the shootings, the tower observation deck was closed. The various bullet holes were repaired and the tower was reopened in 1968. It was closed again in 1975 following four suicides. After a stainless steel lattice and other security features were installed, it was again reopened in 1999, but only to by-appointment guided tours, and all visitors are screened by metal detectors.
In 2006, a Memorial Garden was dedicated to those who died or were otherwise affected. A monument listing the names of the victims was added in 2016 on the shootings' fiftieth anniversary. The tower's clock was stopped for 24 hours beginning at 11:48 a.m.
The day was declared by the City of Austin as "Ramiro Martinez Day".
In 2008, the following names of persons who helped stop Whitman were added to a plaque on an Austin police precinct building:
Name
Billy Paul SpeedCity of Austin police officerKilled near tower
Phillip ConnerAscended tower-
Jerry Day--
Ramiro Martinez--
Houston McCoy--
Harold Moe--
George Shepard--
Milton Shoquist--
William A. Cowan Jr.Department of Public Safety agent-
Allen CrumCivilian-
Frank Holder--
William Wilcox--
Jim BoutwellPilot of aircraft hit by Whitman's fire-
Marion LeeCity of Austin police lieutenantObserver in aircraft

In 2014, Claire Wilson's stillborn son received a tombstone in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, after his grave was rediscovered by Gary Lavergne. Adorned with a single crucifix, it reads "Baby Boy Wilson / August 1, 1966".

In popular culture

Film