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50th Anniversary of the UT-Austin Clock Tower shooting (8/1/66)
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:10 am
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:10 am
quote:
young student and scoutmaster, firing with a Marine sniper's cold and deadly accuracy, killed 13 persons Monday from high in the University of Texas tower after slaying his wife and mother with knife and gun.
In an hour and a half of terror in the Texas capital, he also wounded 31 persons.
Two policemen ended the carnage by climbing to a platform above the sniper, Charles Joseph Whitman, 24, and killing him with six shots from a revolver and two blasts from a shotgun loaded with deer slugs.
Counting the sniper, the dead totaled 15. A sixteenth victim was the unborn child of a woman who was wounded. She was in her eighth month of pregnancy.
quote:
Ramiro Martinez, 29, an off-duty policeman, heard what was going on, left his steak on the fire, jumped into uniform and rushed to the campus.
On his own, Martinez crawled and ran to the main entrance of the building, where he handed a rifle to Allen Crum, an employee of the university cooperative store. The two men made their way to the observation deck. As Martinez rounded a corner and saw Whitman, Martinez fired and Whitman returned one shot. Martinez emptied his revolver at Whitman.
Then officer George McCoy, 26, who had followed Martinez and Crum rushed onto the platform and emptied his shotgun at Whitman.
One of Martinez's pistol bullets smashed Whitman's rifle and another hit him in the neck. A buckshot pellet from McCoy's shotgun hit Whitman between the eyes from about 25 feet, and police said that was undoubtedly the shot that finished him off.
LINK
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:17 am to GetCocky11
Encyclopedia Dramatica - Charles Whitman's Tumor
Accurate, albeit a ridiculous portrayal of that day's events
Accurate, albeit a ridiculous portrayal of that day's events
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:29 am to TexasTiger90
The use of civilians that day was crazy. The Wiki page points out that a Texas Ranger used a civilian as a spotter. A civilian accompanied the officers who went into the tower. Armed civilians also went down there to shoot at Whitman.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:32 am to GetCocky11
quote:
The use of civilians that day was crazy. The Wiki page points out that a Texas Ranger used a civilian as a spotter. A civilian accompanied the officers who went into the tower. Armed civilians also went down there to shoot at Whitman.
Crazy by today's standards maybe. At the time most male civilians could be reasonably expected to do that sort of thing halfway competently.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:36 am to foshizzle
quote:
Crazy by today's standards maybe. At the time most male civilians could be reasonably expected to do that sort of thing halfway competently
Now they get PTSD from shooting a gun for the first time.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:39 am to foshizzle
quote:
At the time most male civilians could be reasonably expected to do that sort of thing halfway competently.
I'm not so sure about that.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:45 am to ThatMakesSense
Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was?
This post was edited on 8/1/16 at 7:46 am
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:49 am to GetCocky11
Anybody remember the movie about this event that was filmed in Baton Rouge and on the LSU campus? Kurt Russell played Charles Whitman.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:51 am to terd ferguson
quote:
Now they get PTSD from shooting a gun for the first time.
And liken shooting a 10/22 to a "bazooka"
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:51 am to stelly1025
That wouldn't go over too well today, and you knew right then Private Pyle was about to go over the wall.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:52 am to GetCocky11
And civilians firing back at him was credited as a big reason to why he didnt kill more people. Can you imagine how that would go over if ole baws grabbed their guns out the trucks today and started firing back vigilante style? shite, the media would crucify them
Posted on 8/1/16 at 7:55 am to GetCocky11
This is actually pretty weird. I just started reading a book last night about a border patrol agent and his time along the border. He was talking about when he was a kid his best friend's sister was engaged to a Marine. This Marine, Charlie, was someone they looked up to and he even taught him and his best friend how to shoot. Then, one summer day, his dad came and told him that his buddy "Charlie" Whitman had gone to a clock tower and shot a bunch of people after he killed this guy's best friend's sister and her mom.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 8:28 am to Tchefuncte Tiger
quote:
Anybody remember the movie about this event that was filmed in Baton Rouge and on the LSU campus? Kurt Russell played Charles Whitman.
Yep I remember, course I can't forget because my dad likes to remind us of how he was an extra in the movie. he was in the shop when he bought the gun and he was also one of the shooting victims.
ETA:
Deadly Tower
This post was edited on 8/1/16 at 8:31 am
Posted on 8/1/16 at 8:59 am to Emteein
I believe "Higher Learning" took some inspiration from this as well if I'm remembering that movie right.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:16 am to Tchefuncte Tiger
quote:
Anybody remember the movie about this event that was filmed in Baton Rouge and on the LSU campus? Kurt Russell played Charles Whitman.
Deadly Tower.
I believe it's on YouTube.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:23 am to GetCocky11
I read the entire Wikipedia article the other day after the shooter was mentioned in a thread discussing long-range shots. What sticks out to me the most is that he was able to shoot for 20 minutes before he encountered return fire, and even then the ordeal lasted over an hour and a half. In the modern information age I cannot imagine he would have the same "luxury" before people would know to stay indoors.
Also, the death toll would/could have been much higher had he opted to shoot people more than once. Shot 32 people and killed 17, but he never shot at a target more than once.
Also, the death toll would/could have been much higher had he opted to shoot people more than once. Shot 32 people and killed 17, but he never shot at a target more than once.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:29 am to slackster
quote:Not quite. From the article:
but he never shot at a target more than once.
quote:
Whitman never shot any of his victims more than once after they had fallen to the ground.
This post was edited on 8/1/16 at 9:30 am
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:29 am to Teddy Ruxpin
quote:
I believe "Higher Learning" took some inspiration from this as well if I'm remembering that movie right.
frick that movie.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:37 am to ell_13
quote:
Not quite.
Touche. The point remains though - it could have been worse as the wounded lay there out in the open.
I cannot get over how crazy, yet controlled he was. Killed his family because he didn't want them to deal with the aftermath. Knew he was going to do it for sometime, wrote about it, and seemed to genuinely want to avoid it, but came to the conclusion that it had to be done.
To some extent it reminds me of James Huberty and the McDonald's shooting from the 1980s. Both men knew there was something wrong with them - Huberty even insisting on mental care - but eventually they couldn't contain it anymore. Seems like a far cry from the mass shooters we've seen recently.
Posted on 8/1/16 at 9:57 am to slackster
Heard audio of phone calls once (did not know things were recorded then) of a local sporting goods store calling police to offer th rifles that he had. I believe a couple were used to keep him pinned down.
I always wondered in this day and age how people would feel about how Whitman was killed. I saw an interview where the cop put a couple extra into Whitman to make sure he stayed down. Probably would have been outcry as there would have been 5 news choppers and 100 smartphone videos of events.
Never heard about the buckshot between the eyes.
I always wondered in this day and age how people would feel about how Whitman was killed. I saw an interview where the cop put a couple extra into Whitman to make sure he stayed down. Probably would have been outcry as there would have been 5 news choppers and 100 smartphone videos of events.
Never heard about the buckshot between the eyes.
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