EP. 95 TEXAS - The University of Texas Tower Shooting (PT 2)
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In last week's episode, we talked about the life of Charles Whitman, the 25-year-old ex-marine and architect student at the University of Texas at Austin. After getting married to his wife, Kathy, and moving his mother to Austin, Texas, Charlie started to experience violent intrusive thoughts. Thoughts that were telling him to go to the top of the University of Texas' tower and kill as many people as he possibly could.

In the months before the massacre, Charlie's mental health was quickly declining. So he sought out multiple doctors to try and help him. But nothing seemed to work. So instead, he decided to act on his violent thoughts. In the early hours of August 1st, 1966, Charlie murdered his wife and mother by stabbing them to death inside of their homes.

In his suicide note, he had claimed that the reason for their murders was so that they wouldn't have to face what he was about to do. And that's where we left off in part one of this story. After murdering his wife and mother, Charlie loaded his vehicle full of weapons and supplies that he needed that day. And then he made his way over to the University of Texas at Austin.

From there, he would go to the top of the UT Tower and commit one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.

Now, this massacre is often referred to as the first school shooting in America, but that's not the case. There were many school shootings before this, but none to this magnitude. The events of what happened that day would shock the nation. And this massacre is often referred to as the mass shooting that started it all here in America.

Now, just as a note, in the last episode we referred to Charles Whitman as "Charlie" because that's what his family and friends called him. But from here on out, we will call him Charles Whitman because that's the name the world knows him as. And this episode is more focused on the events that happened that day and the victims of this horrific massacre. This is the story of the UT Tower shooting.

I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

It's the morning of August 1st, 1966 in Austin, Texas. It was a Monday and many students at the University of Texas woke up and got dressed to go to their summer classes. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary that morning. It was your typical sweltering hot Texas day. But unbeknownst to everyone, Austin resident Charles Whitman had just spent the last few hours murdering his wife and mother and driving around Austin gathering supplies for a massacre.

Shortly before 11:00 AM, he went back to his home at 906 Jewel Street, put on a pair of khaki overalls, grabbed his arsenal of weapons, and started driving towards the University of Texas. The day that he had been planning for months was finally here. As he neared the University, he could see the UT Tower up ahead. In just a few minutes, he would be standing on the tower's observation deck, shooting down at the people below.

When he pulled up to the university, it was around 11:20 a.m., and students were walking to and from classes, completely unaware that their lives were about to change forever. Charles knew that he couldn't park too far away from the tower because he had a lot of supplies with him.

Just as a refresher, inside of his footlocker, he brought seven guns, including a sawed-off shotgun, two Remington rifles, an M1 carbine, a Smith & Wesson Model M19 .357 Magnum revolver, a 9mm Luger, and a pistol.

In addition to the firearms, he also brought over 700 rounds of ammunition: two knives, a machete, a radio, a container of gasoline, a compass, flashlight, and interestingly enough, he brought a three-gallon jug of water and some canned meat. The fact that he brought up snacks and water shows that Charles planned on being up there for a while.

In part one, we mentioned that he even told a friend once that a person could stand off an entire army on top of the tower before they would ever be able to bring them down. Now, to get close to the tower, he pulled up to a parking lot gate and flashed his research assistant badge to a security guard. And because he was a student, they let him in.

Charles parked as close to the tower as he could, and as students and professors walked past him, he loaded up his dolly full of supplies and wheeled it right through the front entrance to the elevators. He stood there clicking the elevator button, but for some reason it wasn't working. He pushed it again and again, but the light to the elevator wasn't even turned on, or

For a second, he started to panic. If the elevators weren't working, there was no way he would be able to haul his equipment up 27 stories. He even started thinking that he may have to come back another day. But just when he thought his plans were ruined, the tower's receptionist, Vera Palmer, saw that he was needing to go upstairs, so she walked over and switched on the button that activated the elevator. Charles flashed her a smile and said,

From here, Charles loaded the dolly into the elevator and it slowly made its way up to the 27th floor. But to get to it, you had to go up a flight of stairs. Charles hauled the dolly full of weapons up the final steps. And when he finally made it to the top, he was greeted by the observation deck's receptionist, Edna Townsley.

Edna had worked at the UT Tower since 1958, and there was actually a running joke that if she ever quit, the tower would crumble. Now, Edna assumed that Charles was a maintenance man because of the way he was dressed, but she never received any information about repairs going on that day. So she walked over to Charles to introduce herself as he began rummaging through his supplies. But as she got closer, she soon realized that this was no maintenance man.

Charles quickly pulled out his rifle and hit her as hard as he could in the face with the butt of his gun. It's unclear why he didn't kill her immediately, but it's assumed he didn't want the gunshots to alert anyone below. After hitting Edna, she collapsed on the floor, but she wasn't unconscious. He then hit her again, this time on the back of her head, which knocked her out. From here, Charles dragged her body behind the receptionist's desk.

But as Charles dragged her body across the floor, he quickly realized that he wasn't alone. A young couple named Cheryl Botts and Don Walden had actually just walked into the room, but from where they were standing, they weren't able to see Edna on the ground. However, they did see Charles standing there holding a rifle, but for whatever reason, they weren't really alarmed by his presence. They pretty much assumed that he was a man about to go hunting.

And he was, but not in the way that they thought. And whatever tension was there in the room quickly subsided when Charles flashed them a smile and asked how they were doing. Not long after, the couple decided to leave and make their way down the stairwell, completely unaware that they had just narrowly escaped death. Back on the floor of the observation deck, Charles knew he had to barricade the stairwell to prevent people from interrupting his plan.

so he quickly slid the receptionist desk and other furniture in the room in front of the stairs entrance. But as he was doing so, he heard the voices of a group of people making their way up the stairwell. MJ Gabor had brought his family to Austin to visit his sister, Marguerite Lamport. Marguerite and her husband, William, wanted to take their family out on a tour of Austin and decided to start with the UT Tower, where they could show the Gabors a wonderful view of the city.

Along with Marguerite, William and MJ was MJ's wife, Mary, and their two sons, Mike and Mark. At around 11:45 that morning, the group started making their way up to the floor of the observation deck. But when they got there, they found that the doorway was barricaded with furniture. So Big Mike, age 19, and his younger brother, Mark, age 16, decided to squeeze past the large desk. And as soon as they did, they saw what they thought was a janitor.

but Charles Whitman quickly whipped out his sawed-off shotgun and aimed it at the young boys. The first shot hit 16-year-old Mark in the head, nearly decapitating him, and as his lifeless body fell to the floor, his older brother Mike was confused, trying to figure out why he was covered in blood. Charles then turned the gun on him, hitting him in the shoulder. Mike quickly slumped down on the floor next to his brother's body.

but he was still alive. And at this point, the five family members who were still in the stairwell were very confused as to what was going on. And their first thought was that a bomb had gone off. Charles then appeared out of nowhere and began blasting shots in their direction. 56-year-old Marguerite was hit in the chest, killing her instantly. And 41-year-old Mary was severely wounded but still alive.

From here, Charles left the stairwell and decided it was time to start shooting from the observation deck. But before he did so, he walked over to Edna, the receptionist, and he blasted a shot into the back of her head.

Now, William and MJ were in the back of the group when the shots came down the stairwell. But again, from what they heard, they assumed that an explosive had gone off. So they quickly rushed to the top of the stairs to check on their family members. But as they did, MJ's injured son, Mike, screamed out for the men to go get help. At first, MJ refused to leave, thinking that his son was injured by a bomb. Mike then screamed out to his father that it wasn't a bomb. It was a man with a gun. And he needed to get help right away.

From here, MJ and William quickly ran to the elevators and made their way out of the tower in search of help. But by the time they would find a police officer, bullets were already raining down on the University of Texas. After injuring Mike and his mother Mary and murdering Mark, Marguerite, and Edna, Charles made his grand entrance onto the tower's observation deck. It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky,

and Charles began to take out all of the weapons and ammunition he planned to use in the attack. Down below, people were walking around, completely unaware of what was to come. Two people that were walking directly in front of the tower, in the main mall, were UT students Thomas Ekman and Claire Wilson, who were both 18 years old. The two had met at an organization called Students for a Democratic Society,

which fought against racial discrimination and opposed the Vietnam War. When they first met, Claire was actually six months pregnant. And even though Thomas wasn't the father, they quickly fell in love. At the time of the shooting, the couple was living together and planning for their futures. That morning, they had just taken an anthropology test and decided to stop by the student union to drink some coffee and say hi to their friends.

But at 11:45 a.m., the couple realized that they needed to leave so that they wouldn't get another parking ticket. So they get up and start making their way towards their car. Along the way, while they're walking right in front of the tower, Tom tells Claire, "I can't believe you're eight months pregnant. You know, you really should have had more to eat this morning." Claire would later say that this was very typical of Tom. He was always looking out for her and the baby.

She then looks at him and says, "I'm fine. I had some orange juice earlier this morning." But at that very moment, Charles Whitman was 230 feet above, pointing his rifle directly at Claire's stomach, pulling the trigger. As soon as the bullet hit her, Claire felt her body jolt forward, and it almost felt like she had been electrocuted. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground.

and Tom was standing over her with a terrified look on his face as he knelt down to help her. But just as he did, another loud blast echoed throughout campus and Tom quickly slumped to the ground right beside her. As the first shots rang out, everyone on campus looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where it came from. Many people assumed it was a car backfiring or construction work.

No one had any idea that the sounds came from a gunman at the top of the tower. Claire was now laying on her back and she felt a great deal of pressure in her womb. Then suddenly, she felt her baby fall to one side of her stomach and she knew immediately that he was dead. Baby Wilson was the fourth murder victim in this massacre on campus and her boyfriend Tom was the fifth.

Still in shock, Claire began calling out Tom's name over and over again hoping that he would turn his head and answer her. But with the amount of blood pooling beneath him, Claire figured he was gone.

Not long after these first shots rang out, history professor Michael Hall alerted Austin PD to the gunfire on campus. "This is Michael Hall. There's just been a gunshot right in front of the tower." But despite this warning, no one could have been prepared for the chaos that would soon unfold. Back at the top of the tower, Charles Whitman was satisfied with the accuracy of these first two shots.

and he soon began scouring the plaza in search of other moving targets. Not far away from Tom and Claire was 33-year-old Robert Hamilton Boyer, who was a mathematician visiting the university that day. Robert had a very exciting opportunity ahead of him. He had just been hired to teach mathematics in England at the University of Liverpool. In

In fact, his pregnant wife and two young children had already moved there, and Robert was set to join them soon. But sadly, that would never happen. As he walked towards the tower, Charles Whitman looked through the scope of his rifle and fired a fatal shot directly into his lower back. Robert was the sixth victim to die that day.

Walking alongside Robert that morning was a PhD student, Devereux Hoffman, who looked up to him as a mentor. Seeing Robert fall to the ground, Devereux quickly rushed to his side. But soon enough, Charles Whitman pointed his rifle towards him.

Deverell was shot in the arm and quickly took cover behind a nearby hedge. A secretary at the university named Charlotte Dershore saw the men fall to the ground and she went to go help them. But soon enough, she felt a bullet just barely miss her own head and the reality of the situation began to sink in. So she ran behind a flagpole to take cover. Charlotte would stay behind that flagpole for over an hour as Charles Whitman continued to rain bullets down on the people below.

And at first, no one knew where the shots were coming from. Everyone frantically looked around hoping to run away from the gunmen, but there was nowhere they could hide. People were being riddled with bullets all over campus, meaning the gunmen wasn't on the ground. Soon enough, students started pointing towards the tower that hovered over the university.

And as the loud shots rang out, they watched in horror as a cloud of white smoke appeared just below the tower's clock. It soon became clear that the gunman was on the observation deck, and no matter where they ran, they would not be able to escape a gunman with a bird's eye view.

At this point, we are just a few minutes into the shooting and although many students are now taking cover, there are hundreds of others who have no idea what's going on, including a group of friends named David Mattson, Tom Herman, Roland Eagle, and Thomas Ashton. The boys were involved in the Peace Corps and on this day they had all agreed to meet up for lunch.

David, Tom and Roland were all walking together right in front of the tower when suddenly David's wrist practically exploded. Then both Tom and Roland's arms were peppered with bullets. The boys had no idea what was going on but Tom and Roland quickly ran for cover but as they did, they noticed that David was still out in the open screaming from his shattered wrist.

Roland quickly ran out to grab his friend and when he did, he felt another bullet hit him in the thigh.

David, Tom, and Roland were now taking cover when 64-year-old Homer Kelly ran to their aid. He was the manager of Scheftel's Jewelers, which was nearby. Homer grabbed the boys and quickly brought them into his store. But just when they thought they were out of the line of fire, the windows of the store shattered, and Homer Kelly was shot in the leg. Luckily, they would all survive their injuries. As for the boy's other friend, 22-year-old Thomas Ashton, who was on his way to meet them for lunch, he wouldn't be so lucky.

Thomas had no idea that the loud booms echoing throughout campus were the sounds of gunfire. So he eagerly walked to meet his friends, excited to tell them some big news. He had just been assigned to Iran to teach English for the Peace Corps, and his deployment would be in a few months. On Thomas's way to them, he suddenly saw students dropping to the ground. Some were screaming, covered in blood. Others were carrying injured students, trying to run away. But before Thomas could take cover, Charles Whitman pointed his rifle at him.

and fired a fatal shot into his chest, making him the seventh murder victim. Now at this point, people that were walking around outside are quickly taking cover. Some students who were in classes near the tower heard the gunshots and ran to their classroom windows to see what was going on. And as they look outside, they are horrified to see students dropping dead around campus.

Here are some of the calls made to the police from these classrooms. And although many people are aware of what's going on, there are still hundreds of people that have no idea of an active shooter.

21 year old student Nancy Harvey and 26 year old UT employee Ellen Evandes were walking out of the tower when they heard what they assumed were gunshots. Scared for their lives, the two friends decided to stay in the building just to be safe. Nancy was an education major and like Claire Wilson, she was also pregnant. And Ellen had just recently taken a part time job at the tower.

But as the two waited in the building, a security guard approached them and they quickly told him that they thought they heard gunshots outside. At this point, the security guard hadn't heard anything, so he assured them that it was safe to leave. The girls lingered in the doorway for a few more minutes before ultimately deciding to walk outside. But as soon as the sunlight touched their skin, Charles spotted them walking down below.

and he quickly aimed his rifle down in their direction. The first bullet entered Nancy's hip and then it ricocheted and hit Ellen in her left leg. The girls quickly collapsed to the ground and although they still weren't sure what was happening, they decided to lay as still as they possibly could until someone brought them to safety. Luckily both would survive their injuries. Now at this point we are still just minutes into the shooting.

And as Charles shoots down at the people below, chaos quickly unfolds on campus. Because of his time in the Marines as a sharpshooter, Charles was hitting almost every target. The blow from a rifle leaves a lot of damage, and the victims that were not immediately killed were getting shot in the legs, hips, arms, all over. And while injured, they're having to use all of their strength to run and take cover.

And it's around this time when the citizens of Austin, Texas are finally getting word that there's a shooter on top of the UT Tower. The main news station in Austin at the time was KTCB.

And on the morning of August 1st, 1966, employees at the news station recalled that it was your average day with not a lot going on. Like many news stations, they kept a police radio there to keep up with crime happening around the city.

And at around noon that day, their quiet morning was interrupted by the following announcement: "We have a shooting of a gunman from the University Tower. We need all the evidence we can at the University Tower." When KTCB heard the news of a gunman on campus, their news director, Neal Spells, actually drove to the university to give live updates on what was going on.

On his way over, he sent out the following warning to the community of Austin, Texas. "This is Neal Spelzen, Red Rover, on the University of Texas campus. There is a sniper on the University Tower firing at will."

Just minutes into the shooting, the police were quickly making their way towards campus. But in the meantime, more lives would be lost at the hands of Charles Whitman. And at this point, Charles had only been shooting at people on the south side of campus, but the observation deck fully wrapped around the tower. So he really could move and start shooting in any direction he wanted to. And it was here when he walked over to the west side of the tower and began shooting people along the drag, which is a very popular street with a lot of foot traffic.

Along the drag, there are a ton of shops, restaurants, bookstores, apartments. Courtney and I, in fact, used to walk that very street when we both went to UT. I have some fond memories on the drag. In fact, I used to eat lunch at a Chipotle there almost every day. I never had any idea of the dark history that this stretch of road possessed. But back to the shooting.

On that day, a 17-year-old named Alec Hernandez was riding his bike around the university, delivering papers with his younger cousin. Alec would ride the bike along this route, and his cousin would throw the papers. It was the biggest newspaper route in the city, and he wasn't actually supposed to be working that day. He took over someone else's shift who was on vacation. But shortly before 11:50 AM, as he was riding his bike along the drag, he started to hear loud pops in the distance.

At first, he thought it was firecrackers, but he was confused because it was daylight. Then, before he could even comprehend what was happening, Charles Whitman aimed his rifle towards the young boy and pulled the trigger. The next few moments were a blur, but after being shot, Alex flew off his bike onto the hot pavement and noticed blood flowing from his leg. A group of people quickly gathered around to help him, completely unaware of what was going on.

One of the bystanders was a 17 year old high school student named Karen Griffith. As she knelt down to help Alec, Charles Whitman turned his gun on her and blasted a shot through her shoulder and chest. The bullet ended up going into her lung and she tried her best to scream but all that came from her mouth was the blood that she was drowning in.

Bystanders who were along the drag watched in fear as people started dropping to the ground. A 24-year-old student named Thomas Ray Carr was coming home from a 10:00 a.m. exam that he had spent the previous night studying for. Glad that the test was over, he could finally go home and get some much needed sleep. But as he headed down the drag, he noticed two teenagers lying in the middle of the street. Both were covered in blood.

Thomas immediately ran over to help them, completely unaware that Charles Whitman's gun was aimed directly at his neck. The bullet lodged into Thomas' spine and he took a few steps before collapsing on the ground beside the two teenagers. Now at the time, ambulances were finally arriving on campus to help the injured.

Alec, the boy riding the bike, would survive his injuries, but Karen and Thomas would eventually die, making them the 8th and 9th murder victims on campus. Here is KTCB's Neal Spells reporting what he witnessed as he arrived at the university.

He knocked a boy off a bicycle, he shot windows out of the Texas Union. More ambulances are screaming up and down the University Drag, and the ambulances are apparently carrying those persons who he had reported as lying on the sidewalk, shot in front of the Varsity Theater and other buildings along the University Drag. The University area has been cordoned off, and so far we've had reports of people being shuttled to the hospital via ambulances from practically all the funeral homes in the city.

As police and first responders arrive on campus to help the injured, Charles Whitman turns his attention towards the university's library.

A 23-year-old student named David Gunby had spent most of his morning there studying for an upcoming exam. He left the library at around 11:55 a.m., just 10 minutes after the shooting started. At this point, he had no idea what was happening on campus, and as he began to walk home, he realized that he left one of his books back in the library. But as he walked back to retrieve it, Charles Whitman looked through the scope of his rifle, aimed it right at him, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet went right through his left arm and into his small intestines and kidney. Seeing this, a couple who had been only married for nine days went to his side to help him. Their names were Brenda and Adrian Littlefield, but soon enough, they would be Charles' next targets. The first bullet hit Brenda in the hip. Then, as her husband bent over to help her, Charles shot him in the back. The three of them laid there on the hot pavement for a while before an armed vehicle eventually came by to take them to the hospital.

Brenda and Adrian Littlefield would end up surviving their injuries, and so would David Gunby for a period of time. But David would actually be considered Whitman's final victim. During the surgery for his gunshot wound, doctors determined that he only had one functioning kidney, and Whitman had shot through his only good one.

David would go on to face a lifetime of problems from his injuries. And in 2001, he died just one week after he stopped dialysis. And even though 14 people technically died on campus that day, David would be considered one of Charles Whitman's murder victims. Because his injuries directly caused his death 35 years after the shooting, his cause of death would indeed be listed as homicide. So technically, David Gunby would be the 15th murder victim of Charles Whitman.

Back on the drag, two 18-year-olds named Paul Sontag and his girlfriend, Claudia Rutt, were on their way to get Claudia's polio vaccine. She had just been accepted into Texas Christian University to study dance, and she needed the vaccine to attend classes. As the two were walking together, they ran into their friend, Carla Wheeler, who was frantic. She told the couple that someone was shooting people from the top of the tower.

The three quickly ran behind a concrete construction barricade and Carla pointed to the top of the tower saying "Look, you can see the gunfire smoke coming from the observation deck." But Paul wasn't fully convinced. At that moment, he stood up to take a look at the tower and just when he did, Charles Whitman aimed his rifle at his face and pulled the trigger.

Paul was hit directly in his mouth, killing him instantly. His girlfriend Claudia was screaming as she ran to his side. Their friend Carla tried to stop her because bullets were still flying in their direction. But when she went to grab Claudia, a bullet went through her hand and into Claudia's chest, killing her. Paul Sontag and Claudia Rutt were Whitman's 10th and 11th murder victims on campus.

By this point, police were now swarming the area and they issued a barricade to keep people out of the gunfire. Local electrician, 29-year-old Roy Schmidt, was on his way to a job at the university when the police stopped his van. They told him what was going on and they wouldn't allow him to go through the barricade. Wanting to get a better look at the chaos on campus, Roy got out of his vehicle thinking that he was safe.

Like many people, it's likely he didn't understand the severity of the situation. And as Roy was standing there watching everything unfold, Charles aimed his rifle down and shot him in the abdomen. Hoping to warn the people standing nearby, Roy started screaming out, "I'm hit! I'm hit!" And with that, he collapsed. Even though he was over 500 yards away, Roy would die that day.

Being the farthest person from campus to be killed, he was the 12th murder victim in the massacre. This is a KLRN News Bulletin. A sniper with a high-powered rifle is firing at persons within his range. All Austin area residents are warned to stay away from the University of Texas area.

Now, at this point in the story, nearly every officer in the city was dispatched to the University of Texas, one being Officer Houston McCoy. Earlier that morning, he recalled that it had been a pretty slow day in terms of crime in the city. Then he got a call that there was a shooting on campus, so McCoy quickly grabbed his rifle and started driving towards the scene. At that point, no one really knew the severity of the situation, but once he got to campus, he was met with a gruesome sight.

There were bodies lying everywhere, and no one could even get to them because when they tried, they would then be in the line of fire. He also saw dozens of students running, screaming, and hiding behind anything that could protect them from the bullets. Wanting to take action, McCoy runs up to a group of students and asks if anyone had a rifle. And being that this was Texas in the 1960s, a young man yells out that he does and he's willing to help.

With that, the two get their guns and run into a nearby building that had a clear shot of the tower. McCoy and the civilian then opened up a window and every time they saw Charles Whitman's head pop up from the observation tower, they took a shot. And there were dozens of other officers around the tower doing the same thing. In fact, video footage from this day show cops shooting up at the tower and hundreds of shots were hitting around the observation deck.

with little pieces of the building slowly chipping away but never hitting the gunman. As Houston McCoy tried to shoot at Whitman, he noticed one of his fellow officers doing the same thing just south of the tower. It was 24-year-old Billy Speed. Billy had been commissioned as a police officer only 13 months earlier, but he was already planning on resigning so that he could attend college.

He had been on call that morning and responded to a phone call made from history professor Michael Hall. Without a second thought, Billy and his partner, Jerry Culp, made their way to the South Mall and took cover behind a decorative stone bulstrate. There were small gaps in the stone, which was perfect because Billy could put his gun through it and shoot at the gunman. And the gaps were so small it would have made it nearly impossible for him to be hit by a bullet.

So he thought he was safe. Behind that concrete bulstrade were several other students that were taking cover. Billy had been down there for several minutes with his rifle shooting up at the tower. Then suddenly, Officer Houston McCoy watched as Billy stood up to take a shot. And just as he did, Charles aimed his rifle through the small opening in the stone and

and shot Billy directly in the forehead. After he was shot, a number of students ran to his aid, including one girl who ripped a part of her dress to stop the bleeding. As soon as Charles Whitman started shooting in another direction, the students who were with Billy Speed would quickly grab him and run to safety. But it was too late. Billy would succumb to his injuries, leaving behind his wife and newborn baby.

He would be Charles Whitman's 13th murder victim that day on campus. One of the students who was with him that afternoon would speak to reporter Neil Spells. We have a man here that just came from the base of the town. What's your name, police sir? Leland Hammonds. You better duck down a little bit here.

We don't know.

Now, Officer Houston McCoy watched from a nearby building as his colleague got shot and right then and there he knew he had to make his way over to the tower. At this point, none of the other officers had attempted to make their way over out of fear of getting shot. So most just tried to shoot the gunman from behind barricades down below. But unfortunately, none of the bullets being shot at the gunman were hitting. And Houston McCoy knew that the only way they could take him down

as if they went up to the observation deck themselves. So with that, he started making plans on how he would get to the tower without getting shot. Under the clock on the south side of the University of Texas tower and police returning the fire. The man is located on the University of Texas observation deck below the clock which now shows 12:25 and is shooting. He's shooting our direction.

39-year-old PhD student Harry Walchuk was walking down the drag when he stopped at a newspaper and magazine store to buy the daily paper. Throughout his life, Harry stayed pretty busy. Not only was he getting his PhD, but he also had a wife and six kids. And he had a teaching job at the local community college. That morning, as he went inside of the magazine store, it had only been about 15 minutes since the shooting had started, and many people were still unaware of what was going on. Harry was one of these people.

As he walked through the store, he had no idea about the chaos going on outside. At one point, he had even stopped to chat with the employee behind the counter. The two engaged in a bit of small talk, and just as he went to leave, the employee watched as Harry put his hands up to his throat. He couldn't breathe, and when he looked down, he saw blood pouring down the front of his shirt.

Charles had aimed his rifle at Harry right as he was leaving the store and shot him in the chest. He would be the 14th murder victim on campus that day, leaving behind his wife and six children. After watching Harry get shot, 21-year-old Sandra Wilson went up to help him, but in the process, Whitman shot her in the chest.

Luckily, the bullet deflected off her ribs and she would go on to survive her injuries. Another survivor was a 35-year-old basketball coach named Billy Snowden. He was watching the chaos unfold from a barbershop that he thought was out of range. But as he stood there in the window, a bullet hit him in the shoulder.

Luckily, he was quickly taken away in an ambulance and he too would survive his injuries. Around this time, Whitman turned his rifle towards a couple who was crossing 24th Street in Guadalupe. It was 26-year-old foreign exchange student Abdul Kashab and his fiancee, 20-year-old Janet Palmos, who were two weeks away from their wedding day. They too would survive. Another surviving couple named Irma Garcia and her boyfriend, Oscar Roy Vela, were leaving Hogg Auditorium on their way to the biology lab when Charles shot them.

Oscar and Irma fell to the ground injured as good Samaritans pulled them to safety. These are only a handful of stories from the injured victims that day. But as you can see, the University of Texas that morning was a war zone. It's an unbelievable sight. The Serene University of Texas campus, a temperature approaching 100 degrees now, and a madman located on top of the university tower, firing and shooting at any movable object that he can see. Apparently, police are returning the fire now.

At this point, it had been over an hour since Whitman had started the massacre. Down on campus, it was chaos. Everyone was running in all different directions trying to get as far away from the tower as possible, but as they ran, bullets would come flying down in their direction. People all over were literally dropping in the streets.

One man was using binoculars to look up at the tower when he noticed the gun was pointed directly at him. He quickly started to run and right when he did, Whitman pulled the trigger, just barely missing him. Another boy was watching the chaos unfold through a window on campus when all of a sudden a bullet went through the glass, striking him.

And throughout this entire shooting, KTBC's news director, Neal Spells, was driving around campus giving live updates on everything that was happening and interviewing civilians along the way. The shot that hit me, bypassed me and ricocheted off the building. Everybody was in a state of panic. Then what happened? Then everybody ran. We passed the steps to the undergraduate library. As we were about to the corner, he shot.

And I lay there for about, oh, probably 15 or 20 minutes. Neal's spouse's reports were going straight to news stations all over the United States. And the entire country listened in horror as they could still hear the gunshots echoing in the background.

And with everyone getting word about what was happening at the University of Texas, many people in Austin began running towards the scene with their own rifles trying to help in any way they could. Police and civilians continued to fire shots up at the tower, hoping to kill the gunman, but to no avail. There must have been a hit that last time.

We hear people outside of our building in an area where we can't now look safely saying, let's help that boy. Does he need help? Someone must be down. 50 carton shells, ricochet bullets bouncing off the top of the tower. Piece of the tower falling now. We can see the movement under the clock on the south side of the University of Texas tower and police are returning the fire. You are looking at the University of Texas tower in Austin live.

There is a sniper, or more than one sniper, located on that ridge right there under the clock. One boy was shot while sitting in the Union through the window. Two others have been reported shot on the drag, Guadalupe Street. There are people hiding behind trees all over the University of Texas campus. Several are pinned down behind retaining walls in front of the main building.

People are warned to stay out of the University of Texas area.

Now, keep in mind the shooting would last a total of 96 minutes, over an hour and a half of bloodshed. People all over campus were still getting shot while hundreds of others were hiding behind concrete barriers, praying that the gunmen wouldn't see them. And something disturbing about this entire thing is that 31 people were injured in this shooting. And when they got shot, they would collapse to the ground right in the line of fire. Some of the injured would have to lay there for the entire hour and a half screaming out for someone to come help them.

But anytime someone tried to help, Charles would shoot at them too. Eventually, ambulances and armed vehicles were driving out into the gunfire to retrieve the injured. Video footage from that day shows first responders and random civilians carrying stretchers across the campus. Some people were carrying dead bodies out of the gunfire, all while gunshots were still raining down in the background. Many people were literally putting their lives on the line for complete strangers.

30-year-old Morris Homan, who was a funeral director in the city, actually had an ambulance, so when he got word of the shooting on campus, he quickly made his way over to help in any way he could. But as he was helping the injured, Charles Whitman shot him in the leg. Morris would later say that he laid there for about 45 minutes, and the entire time, he could overhear two construction workers debating on whether or not they should go out into the line of fire to help him.

Sadly, there are countless other stories of victims who were slowly bleeding out from their injuries and because of where they were located, no one could get to them. One of these people was Claire Wilson, the pregnant woman we mentioned earlier, who was the very first person shot from the observation deck.

After Claire was shot, chaos quickly erupted on campus and anytime someone tried to help her, bullets would come raining down in their direction. So instead, she just laid there for over an hour

with her baby dead inside of her and her boyfriend dead right next to her. Claire would later say that one of the main things she remembers from that day as she laid there bleeding out was how unbelievably hot it was. It was sunny with no clouds around midday and about 100 degrees out. She remembered the pavement underneath her was scorching her skin and more than anything she just wanted to get up and run away.

But every time she tried, she was unable to move. Claire said that she could see dozens of students taking cover in the distance. And at times, she could even hear them talking about her. Some would yell out, "We have to help that pregnant lady!" Then Claire heard another student yell, "No, we have to help the ones that there's still hope for." And that's when she realized she was probably going to die out there on the hot pavement.

Claire was slowly starting to feel the life drain out of her, but she said it was weird. She wasn't in pain, she just felt a lot of pressure. Then suddenly, she heard the sounds of someone running up beside her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a girl with long, beautiful red hair, and she was kneeling down beside her trying to help her up.

But just when that happened, Charles started shooting down in their direction. Claire yelled out to her, "Please go! He's going to shoot you! Go take cover!" But instead, the girl laid down on the hot pavement beside her and said, "My name's Rita. I'm going to lay here with you and we're going to get you help." After laying there for over an hour, Claire was grateful that she wasn't alone.

And over the next 30 minutes, the two actually just laid there and talked to each other about their lives. It was clear to Rita that Claire was slowly slipping away, so she did her best to ask her questions and keep her alert so that she would stay conscious.

And she asked her questions like "How old are you?" "Where did you grow up?" "What classes are you taking this semester?" At some point, Claire mentioned that the man next to her was her boyfriend. Rita knew that Tom was dead, but she asked Claire "Tell me about Tom. What's he like?"

For the next two minutes, Claire talked about how she met Tom when she was six months pregnant. Despite her being pregnant, he wanted to be with her. She described Tom as beautiful, caring, generous, and that he loved her very much.

It was obvious that the two were in love. He wanted to be a poet and he played the banjo. They were inseparable and they had just moved in together. Rita kept talking to Claire trying to get her to stay conscious, but after a while, she felt her eyelids get heavy. It was hard to keep them open and she knew it wouldn't be long until she died. But just as she felt herself slipping away, she heard the sounds of people running towards them. Now, two of the people were 18-year-olds, Artley Fox and James Love.

There was another boy who ran with them whose name was Brian, but we just couldn't figure out his last name in doing research for this episode. But Artley and James were friends, and they had actually come to campus that day to check out the chaos going on. Like many people, they didn't realize the severity of the situation, and soon enough, they found themselves amongst the gunfire. And as the boys were taking cover, they couldn't help but notice all of the bodies laid out in front of them. Most of the people out there were already dead.

But Claire Wilson, who was 8 months pregnant, was still moving around. And it was clear that she was in a lot of pain. So the boys started coming up with a plan to save her. The scary thing was, the place where she was lying was right in front of the tower. And it's basically this big open area of concrete. So if bullets started coming down in their direction, there was nowhere for them to take cover. But in their minds, they had to do it.

They couldn't just sit there and let her die. So together, the three boys quickly started running in her direction. Once they got to Claire, Artley grabbed her by the feet and James grabbed her by the hands. From there, they quickly started running to shelter. Artley would later tell the Tower documentary that as he ran to safety, he could pinpoint a spot on his back where he expected to get shot.

It was right in between his shoulder blades. And over 50 years later, he can still feel that very spot where he thought he would get struck by a bullet. But luckily, that wouldn't happen. Video from this day show Artley and James carrying Claire to safety as the sounds of gunfire echo in the distance. Brian, the other boy who ran up there with Artley and James, lagged behind a little bit.

He was grabbing Thomas, who had been dead for quite some time. Video of this shows Brian struggling to pick Thomas up, because he was dead weight.

And just as a side note, we will be posting all of this video footage on our Patreon, so make sure to check that out because it's truly unlike anything we've ever seen. But Brian, the one who picked up Thomas, had actually been on campus the entire time helping as many people as he could. At the end of it all, you can see a video of Brian covered in blood from his heroic actions that day.

Here he is talking to KTCB's news director, Neal Spelz. - Grant, how many have you gone out to rescue? - Today, two. - What did you have to do? - Run hard and keep low. - Did you have any trouble getting them up or did any shots come close to you while you were out there? - No shots came close to me. Just the last one, he was dead. He was dead weight. He was a little hard picked up, too limp.

Now, once Claire Wilson was brought to safety, she was quickly taken to the hospital and rushed into surgery. She would later tell the Tower documentary that she begged the doctors not to cut off her dress because it was her only maternity dress and Thomas had helped her pick it out. Luckily, Claire would make it through the surgery, but her greatest fear had come true. Baby Wilson didn't make it out alive.

And we'll talk more about Claire later on in the story. But back at the scene, Charles Whitman is still shooting from the tower's observation deck. It had been nearly an hour and a half since the massacre started.

Police and civilians on the ground were still shooting up at the tower hoping to kill the gunman, but they weren't having any luck. Many people who were still taking cover around campus couldn't believe he was still shooting. And something eerie about this story is that the clock on top of the tower, right above where Whitman was shooting, goes off every 15 minutes. And it sounds like this.

and the bell serves as kind of a reminder that a quarter of an hour has passed. I remember that when I went to UT, anytime you heard this bell, you knew you were running late to class. And I always used to think that the bell had some sort of a dark sound to it. Knowing it in this context changes the meaning of that bell.

On the day of the shooting, the bell definitely had an entirely different meaning. The people who were taking cover and the injured who weren't able to would be waiting in agony. And every 15 minutes, they would hear that sound of that bell, a grim reminder that their nightmare was still ongoing. And ring after ring, the students at the university just could not believe that the gunman hadn't been stopped. Many students even said that they wanted someone to bomb the tower so it would all come to an end.

The police department even sent an ex-army veteran and police officer named Marion Lee into a single-engine airplane to circle the tower in hopes of killing the gunman from the air. The plane got as close to the tower as they could, but Charles quickly started firing in its direction, and he tried to aim at the plane's fuel tank, so the officers decided to fly a safe distance away from direct fire. And it soon became clear that the officers in the plane weren't going to be able to take him down.

From below the tower, local Austin residents and police were equipped with their own guns and firing in Charles' direction. With the plane hovering close by and the residents below, Charles had no choice but to take cover. But he had come well stocked with ammunition for this exact purpose. He knew he could last days doing this back and forth with police and locals. But what Charles Whitman didn't plan for were the heroic acts of police officers Houston McCoy and Ray Martinez.

we briefly mentioned houston mccoy earlier on in our story he was the officer that was shooting from a nearby building and the one who watched officer billy speed get shot in the head and we'll talk about him more in a little but earlier that day officer ray martinez was sitting at home waiting for his shift to start when he turned on the tv and heard the following announcement this is a klrn news bulletin

Hearing this, Martinez quickly called his superiors and asked if they needed assistance. Okay, I'll be right over. Okay, that's at the University.

Since Martinez wasn't on the clock, his boss told him to go to the university and direct traffic away from campus. So he got dressed in his uniform, called his wife to let her know where he was going, and he took off towards the University of Texas. But once he arrived and saw the chaos on campus, he knew he couldn't just sit back and direct traffic. The gunmen had been shooting for over an hour, and there were over a dozen casualties.

So Martinez decided that he was going to take the gunman down himself. You see, by now, all of the officers at the scene were just shooting at the tower from the ground. No one wanted to go up to the observation deck because they would be in the line of fire while getting over there. But Martinez knew that the only way the gunman would be stopped is if someone went up to the observation deck.

So he began to make his way over, all while the sounds of gunfire were still echoing throughout campus. He was careful, taking cover every time bullets came raining down. And something he kept telling himself along the way is that if he can't see the tower, then the shooter couldn't see him. On the other hand, however, if he could see the tower, he could very well get shot.

Officer Martinez continued to make his way over, passing many bodies along the way. And then once he was in front of the Jefferson Davis statue, he decided to make a run for it. After what felt like an eternity, Martinez finally made his way over to the tower. And once inside, he encountered a 40-year-old man named Alan Crum.

Allen had served in the Air Force earlier in his life, and after his retirement he decided to start working as a manager at the campus' co-op, which is located along the drag. And he was actually one of the people who helped Alec Hernandez, the 17-year-old who was riding his bike in front of the store. Once Alec was shot, Allen put a tourniquet around his leg and helped the young boy into an ambulance.

After that, he found himself in a line of fire, and he knew he couldn't run back to his store. So instead, Alan decided to run directly towards the tower, the same building that the gunman was shooting from. On his way over, he hid behind a concrete column and shot Charles Whitman in the finger.

And as soon as he did, more bullets started flying around him. One bullet hole could even be seen in the column that he was hiding behind. But once the gunfire stopped and Whitman started firing on the other side of campus, Allen quickly made his way to the tower where the shooter was located. And once inside, he ran into Officer Ray Martinez.

And this next part is truly one of the best parts of this story. When Alan Crum saw Officer Martinez enter the building, he ran up and asked if he can join him in taking down the shooter. At this point, most of the police force weren't even able to make it over to the tower, but this random civilian was willing to put his life on the line to help.

At the time, there was only one other officer in the building, whose name was Jerry Day, and they knew they needed all the help they could get. So Alan Crumb was quickly given a rifle by another random civilian and from there, they all walked over to the elevator, made their way up to the 26th floor, and decided that they would take the stairs the rest of the way up. Officer Martinez recalled that he prayed the entire elevator ride.

and as they got closer and closer, their anxiety was through the roof. After all, the only gun he had with him was his .38 revolver, which would be no match against the gunman's arsenal of weapons.

Once the elevator doors opened, there was an eerie silence in the building. All that could be heard were the gunshots still echoing outside. Officer Martinez and Alan Crum slowly started to make their way up the stairs. Martinez led the way and Alan followed close behind with his rifle.

Upon walking up to the first landing, they see 16 year old Mark on the stairs. His eyes were wide open and it was clear that he was dead. They quickly walked past him only to find that there was another body at his feet. It was 56 year old Marguerite Lamport and next to her was another woman, Mary, who was barely clinging on to life.

They quickly turned her on her side so that she wouldn't drown in her own blood and then they continued to make their way towards the 27th floor. They would end up finding another boy who was conscious and lying against the wall. He was 19 year old Mike who had been bleeding on the stairs for the entirety of the shooting. Martinez asked Mike how many shooters there were, to which he replied

Finally, Martinez and Alan Crum make it to the top. Their adrenaline was high, and Alan turns to Martinez and asks, To which he says, Damn right we're playing for keeps.

Alan then tells the officer, "I guess you better deputize me then." And at that point, Martinez realized that Alan Crum wasn't even a cop. The entire time he figured he was a police officer from a different agency. But it turns out he was just a random and brave civilian.

So he tells Alan, "Consider yourself deputized." And it was here where the men saw the body of the observation deck's receptionist, Edna Townsley. She was lying on her back in a pool of blood. They quickly move past her and make their way to the door that leads them outside. Both of the men knew that there was a big chance they would not make it out alive.

Martinez would later tell the Tower documentary that a picture of his wife and kids flashed in his mind and he knew right then that he may never see them again, but it was his duty, so he and Alan Crum start making a plan. Martinez tells Alan that he's going to go in one direction and Alan assures him that he will have his rifle pointed in the other direction just in case the shooter comes from that way. And with that,

They go to open the door to the observation deck. Luckily, the shooter couldn't be seen, but they did see bullet casings covering the ground. As Officer Martinez makes his way around, Officer Houston McCoy quickly comes out on the observation deck with a shotgun to assist his fellow officer.

Martinez was relieved to see he had backup, because again, all he had was a small revolver. The two officers slowly inched their way around the observation deck. They're trying to be as quiet as they possibly could so they wouldn't alert the gunman of their presence. When they turn that first corner, they still don't see him, which means he's likely around that next corner.

At this point, Alan Crumb hears Whitman's footsteps approaching, so he actually fires a blast into the side of the building to distract him. Hearing this, both Martinez and McCoy quickly turn the corner to see Charles Whitman standing there with a rifle across his chest. As he saw the officers, Whitman attempted to grab his gun.

But before he could do so, Martinez emptied his revolver in Whitman's direction. Then, Officer McCoy aimed his shotgun at Whitman's head and pulled the trigger. The shot hit him directly in the face, killing him instantly. McCoy fired a second shot that hit Whitman in his side. Here is the audio from that shootout.

After Whitman hit the ground, Martinez then grabbed the shotgun from McCoy and fired one final blast into his body. And finally, at 1:24 PM, after 96 minutes, the UT Tower shooting had finally come to an end.

Now, the officers down below had no idea that they had taken down the gunman, and thinking that he was still alive, they actually started to shoot at Martinez, McCoy, and Alan Crum. Thinking quickly, Alan started to rummage through Whitman's pockets, where he found a handkerchief, and as shots were bouncing off the building, Alan Crum started waving the cloth in the air.

to let people down below know that the nightmare was finally over. Ladies and gentlemen, we have this word just in the newsroom. The sniper has been seen waving a white flag on the west side of the building. After the shooting ended, Officer Martinez said he felt all of his energy leave his body. All of the fear, stress, and adrenaline had left, and all he felt was exhaustion. And soon afterwards, he left campus to be with his family. The campus, for all practical purposes, has been cleared. Police got to the tower and they're keeping all the persons

...coming out and walking across the campus.

After the shots stopped, it was eerily quiet on campus. KTCB's Neal Spelz was told about the shooter's death and he quickly informed the radio stations where thousands of people all over the country were still tuning in. "The sniper is dead. The firing has now stopped." And once word got out that it was all over, hundreds of students quietly filled the campus

Some were coming out of the nearby buildings. Others were coming out from behind trees or concrete barriers, most of whom had been waiting there for the entire 96 minutes. And as the students gathered in front of the tower, everyone was in complete shock at what they had just experienced. It was noted that people weren't hugging or crying, or even talking for that matter.

Everyone was just kind of blankly staring ahead in a daze. Slowly but surely the ambulances took the injured to the hospital and the dead to the medical examiner.

Students were called seeing blood everywhere on campus. And soon enough, the hospitals around Austin were in desperate need of blood donors. The city of Austin was in a frenzy.

There weren't cell phones back then, so there really wasn't a way to call your loved ones and let them know that you were okay. All of the landlines and the phones at the hospital were busy, so many people relied on news and radio for updates. Earlier that day, a man named Paul Bolton had come to the KTCB newsroom to help out. He had gone into retirement earlier that year, but he kept a good relationship with the station.

and after the shooting was over, his colleagues at the radio station went to the hospital and began giving updates about the victims of the shooting. Sadly, as the deceased victim's names are read, Paul Bolton heard the name of his grandson.

...

As the names were read again, Paul was devastated to hear that his grandson, Paul Sontag, was one of the murder victims. And dozens of other families around the country were experiencing the same heartbreak when they heard the name of their loved one.

In the hospitals around town, many of the injured victims were rushed into surgery, including Alec Hernandez, a 17-year-old boy shot on his bike. At the time of the shooting, his father was working downtown at a shoe repair shop when someone approached him and told him that his son was dead. From there, he quickly picked up his wife and they made their way to the hospital. His parents sat in the waiting room for several hours thinking that their son was dead before someone finally informed them that he had made it out alive.

Like we mentioned earlier, Claire Wilson also made it out alive, but she had a long road of recovery ahead. For the next seven weeks, she would be in the ICU recovering from her injuries and grieving the loss of her boyfriend Tom and unborn son, baby Wilson. And while she was in the hospital, Rita's star pattern, the girl who laid with her on the hot pavement, came to pay her a visit. And she brought Claire a painting. Claire would later say that she will never forget the bravery Rita faced that day.

running out into the gunfire and lying there with her so she wouldn't die alone. Now unfortunately, Claire would never be able to get pregnant again, and she would later tell the Tower documentary that every once in a while, she still has dreams about her first baby. In her dreams, she finds him laying there, and he's still a little infant, and she's overcome with joy getting to hold her baby boy finally in her arms.

But then, just as suddenly as the dream begins, after she looks away, the boy's gone. August 1st, 1966 forever changed Claire's life. And even though she would never be able to have a child of her own, she later found a new sense of purpose with the child she would adopt, a little boy from Ethiopia named Serac. Many lives were affected because of the actions of Charles Whitman.

Lives were stolen, and the victims who did survive would never be the same. David Gumby would wake up every morning in excruciating pain due to his gunshot wounds.

and that pain would go on for decades until his death in 2001. Mary Garber would end up paralyzed from the neck down, but she considered herself lucky because her sister-in-law, Marguerite, lost her life. There are countless other stories of survivors' accounts of how that day changed their lives forever. As for the city of Austin, it was hard to pick up the pieces and recover from this horrific tragedy.

In the hours after the shooting, the police went by Charles Whitman's home and they found the body of his wife, Kathy, lying in bed. Not long after, they found the body of his mother in her apartment, bringing the death toll to 17. Whitman's life was also tragic in the effect on his wife and mother. As you know, both were found dead when the police moved into their follow-up investigation of the shooting. Darrell Davis went to the homes of the two women and came back with this report.

The bizarre and disturbing incident of the sniper was followed very quickly by the discovery of the body of Whitman's wife at their home at 906 Jewel Street in South Austin. And almost simultaneously in another part of town, Whitman's mother was found murdered. Mrs. C.A. Whitman's body was discovered in her residence at the penthouse apartments, 1212 Guadalupe. At the Whitman home, Lieutenant Merle Wells talked with newsmen about the discovery and about a note the man had written.

In this letter he said that he was going to kill his wife and mother to save them and the embarrassment of what he was about to do. That the reason for him killing them is that he has been having severe headaches and has been to a psychiatrist. He said that about himself? Yes. What is the condition of the house right now? It's very neat and clean and not anything out of order. She's lying in bed on her back.

When news spread around the country about all of the lives lost that day, America was shocked. By this point, our country hadn't experienced anything like this.

And after everything had settled down, and the city of Austin had a chance to grasp what had happened, they conducted a press conference, where reporters spoke to police chief Bob Miles. KTBC Television News now presents a special program on today's mass murder in the capital city. Here is KTBC Television News editor, Neal Spelz.

Good evening. One of history's worst mass murders occurred here in Austin today. By official count tonight, 49 persons were hit by gunfire. There are 16 dead and 33 injured.

It started last night when a man reportedly killed his wife and his mother. That same man apparently rounded up an arsenal and supplies this morning and then went to the observation deck of the University of Texas tower. It was then that terror rained down from the tower. Charles Ward was there and described the shooting. And the battle goes on.

Sirens screamed for the 90 minutes that the gun battle was in progress. It was hot, past 90 degrees on the ground, probably much hotter high atop the tower with the sun ricocheting off the limestone with the same intensity as the police bullets.

Students, coeds crouched at the place where they could find safety. Austin police were reinforced in their gun battle by sheriff's deputies, by Texas Highway Patrolmen, by Texas Rangers, and some citizens who were deputized when they offered their services. But from the time the first call came in to the UT police at 11:48 a.m. until Austin police gunned down the man they said was the sniper at 1:22 p.m.,

The university campus resembled a battlefield. Dead people were lying on the hot sidewalks and dozens of courageous persons risked death time and time again to try to save them.

But there were more, many more, and the full impact of today's tragedy still has not been felt because the magnitude of the crime is practically impossible to comprehend. Charles J. Whitman, a 25-year-old Marine veteran who earned a sharpshooter rating while on active duty, he was identified by police as the sniper. He was shot down on the observation deck by two city policemen.

The policemen were aided by an Austin man, Alan Crum. The story of how they ended the 90 minutes of terror was told this afternoon at a news conference held by Austin Police Chief Bob Miles. Jack Bowserson was there. Chief Miles, one of the questions that people are wondering about perhaps is why did it take 90 minutes to get Charles Whitman?

Well, I think probably one of the best answers is how long would it take to take an armed hill by a squad of infantrymen. I don't know whether you realize it or not, but if you've ever been up on top of the university tower, you can realize that it's an excellent pillbox. That it is one of the person that controls the high ground pretty well controls the terrain around him.

Now, for all practical purposes, 99% of the damage that Whitman did was done in the first 20 minutes. And actually what happened from then on was the fact that he was pinned down. And by being pinned down, it prevented him from shooting other people.

All right. What about communications? The question has arisen about the fact that when Mr. Martinez came out, he came on his own, so to speak, and came and rushed in, and he with the other officers and Mr. Crum went up more or less on their own. How about communications and the other people, the other officers involved?

It was unfortunate that the officers up there did not have a handy talkie with them at the time that they were up there. Communication would have been much quicker and much faster. However, as you can understand, if you've ever been up on the University Tower and see what an expert marksman with a gun could do and what a field of fire he has up there and how difficult it would be to actually approach the University Tower.

uh with a gunman up there with free access to all sides of it right well now mr martinez did it could not others have also done it yes as a matter of fact though as a matter of fact though we did know that we had five men in the tower and there was certainly no point in sending in an entire squad of 100 men into the tower because part of our problem was the fact that while the news on the news services television and radio

Here, Bob Miles talks about Alan Crum, the random civilian who assisted in taking down the gunman.

Are you going to shoot as soon as you saw him? Did anybody ask him to surrender or give up or anything before all the violence started? No. As I said just a moment ago, Mr. Crum fired one shot into the west wall. When Officer Martinez looked around the corner...

Alan Crum was a random civilian turned hero in the story. He didn't have to put his life on the line that day. In fact, some officers wouldn't even walk over to the tower, let alone confront the gunman. But he did. Here's Alan talking to reporters after the shooting.

the man here beside me is alan crumb he was deputized to go up on the tower with the two policemen who ended the gun battle mr crumb could you tell us how you happened to be in the tower building in the first place well i uh became involved in this when i looked out of the co-op windows and saw a boy i shot across the street i went across streets and biscuit because i thought it was a small fight and as i stepped out the door i heard the sound of shots

And you actually went into the tower? Yes, sir. I couldn't get back across the street because I figured I might get shot myself, so I went to the next building.

Shortly after this, the Austin Police Department wrote Allen a check for one day's work as a deputized citizen, but he refused it.

Crum would forever be a hero in Austin, Texas until his death in 2001. He was 77 years old.

Both Ray Martinez and Houston McCoy received a lot of praise for their heroic actions that day. Martinez is often the person people associate with taking Whitman down, and rightly so because he was the first officer brave enough to go up to the observation deck. But it's also important to recognize McCoy because he fired the fatal shot. McCoy quit the police force a few years after the massacre, and he would end up passing away in 2012.

But in the eyes of Texas, he, Ray, and Alan Crum will all forever be heroes. The story of the sniper is not ended. It's not ended for the families who have loved ones to bury and loved ones to care for. It's not ended for the police and other officials, including the governor, who intend to carry out the investigation into this unbelievable tragedy. And it's not ended in the quest for facts.

For most of Austin, the events of this day have been more than any could comprehend. This is Neal Spells. Thank you and good evening. And like many people after a massacre, everyone had one question.

Why? Why would a 25-year-old bright and intelligent man, with his entire life ahead of him, commit such a horrible crime? Charles Whitman had an uneven academic record at the university. He maintained a low C average before he entered the Marine Corps in 1963. When he returned, he brought his grade point average up to a solid B.

One of the professors who knew him well is Dr. Leonard Kreisly in the mechanical engineering department. He seemed to be very well liked by the students in his class. I had him in one class myself. He did very prompt work. He did neat work. So far as I could tell, he seemed to be very happy of his family. He brought his wife up and introduced her to me. And so far as I could tell, as of fall 1962,

When word got out that Charles Whitman had seen several doctors about his violent thoughts and the fact that he told one of those doctors exactly what he planned to do, everyone was outraged. How could this have happened? In the days after the shooting, the medical examiner conducted an autopsy.

and in Charles Whitman's brain, they found a tumor the size of a pecan. Now, initially, they determined that the tumor didn't have anything to do with his actions that day. But later on, the Connolly Commission admitted that his tumor was glioblastoma.

and it definitely could have played a part in what happened. You see, the tumor was very close to his amygdala, which is the part of your brain that influences your emotions and behaviors.

it's very possible that the tumor in Whitman's brain was pushing up against it. The gross autopsy that I received this morning from Dr. Schnard indicated that he did have a small brain tumor near the base of the spinal stem. However, the doctor was

quick to tell me that the tumor itself did not have any direct effect on the frontal lobe of the brain that controlled the logical thinking of an individual.

He did say, however, it did press on the sensory passages in the brain and caused a great deal of pain, headaches, and so forth." At the end of it all, doctors were never able to definitively determine whether or not the tumor influenced his actions. But it is important to note that in Whitman's suicide note, he asked for an autopsy of his brain.

And he specifically said that he believed doctors would be able to find a visible physical disorder, which they did. And who knows? Maybe it was the tumor that caused Whitman to kill 17 people that day. Maybe it was the tumor combined with his prescribed medications. Or his violent upbringing combined with his time in the military. Like every mass shooting we cover, you never really get the answers you want.

As for the University of Texas, the day after the massacre, cleaning crews walked around and washed off all of the blood that could be found around campus. UT was closed for one single day before they opened up campus and continued on with classes. After the shooting, the university closed the observation deck to the public for two years.

but when it reopened in 1968, 4 people jumped to their deaths within a 7 year window, so in 1965 they closed it again. From then, it would remain closed until 1999. At the turn of the century, the university decided to put up barriers and extra safety measures so that these things would no longer happen.

But for years, it seemed like the university just wanted to ignore everything that happened. It was an obvious stain on UT's reputation, and every time people looked at the tower, it was a grim reminder of what happened that summer day in 1966.

The public wanted the university to erect a memorial to remember the victims, but instead in 2007, they put up a small little bronze plaque in the tower's garden and it read "The University of Texas at Austin remembers with profound sorrow the tragedy of August 1, 1966."

This space is dedicated as the Tower Garden, a memorial to those who died, to those who were wounded, and to the countless other victims who were immeasurably affected by the tragedy. But somehow this small little plaque tucked away in the garden didn't seem like enough. It didn't even mention the victims' names.

Then finally, in 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the shooting, a proper memorial was erected to honor the victims, listing all 17 people who were murdered that day. America as a whole had a lot to learn from this tragedy. At the time, they didn't know how to handle these types of situations. They didn't have a protocol around the country for active shooters, nor the resources to take them down.

The UT Tower shooting is often cited as the tragedy that started the creation of SWAT teams here in America. They realized that the small police forces aren't always capable of taking down these types of threats. And after this massacre, SWAT teams started spreading to cities all over the country.

but as we know that still won't stop people from committing these horrible crimes in the tower documentary artley fox the man that saved claire wilson talks about the bible scripture that's etched into the tower that reads ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free but one truth he took away from this horrific day was that there are monsters that walk among us there are people out there that think unthinkable thoughts and then do unthinkable things

After the massacre, a local news station reflected on their thoughts on the shooting. And sadly, after all these years, what he said on the news is still nearly relevant to this day. "The horror of these sick among us must be found in the horror of our hyper-civilization. A strange pandering to violence, a disrespect for life, fostered in part by governments which in pursuit of the doctrine of self-defense

teach their youth to kill and to maim. A society in which the most popular newspaper cartoon scripts, television programs and movies are those that can invent new means of perpetrating bodily harm. A people who somehow can remain silent while their own civilization seems to crumble under the force of the caveman's philosophy that might makes right.

It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime. This is Walter Cronkite. Good night.

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Just visit simplisafe.com slash inamerica. That's simplisafe with an I dot com slash inamerica. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. And now, let's get back to our story. Hey everybody, it's Colin here. And Courtney. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America Part 2 of the story of the UT Tower shooting. This case obviously means a lot to Courtney and I because like we said in the episode, we both went to UT and that's actually where we met.

Yeah, this case has always just meant a lot. When Colin and I first started dating, we would always talk about it because we were on campus every single day. And I remember walking to class and walking in front of the tower right where Claire and Thomas's body were. And I would just like sit there and be like, that's so crazy that they were right here over 50 years ago. Yeah, when I actually first went to UT, I was like,

I had no idea that this had even happened. I guess it's kind of a crime that isn't really talked about in the Midwest where I was born and raised. And so when I would be walking back from my late night classes back to my dorm room and I'd have to go through that courtyard area in front of the tower, it was always just kind of eerie. I can't really describe that feeling of being there at that time. But I want to shout out our patrons for the week. We have three of them since we recorded our last episode. And I want to thank them for being there.

Emily, Masha Kikcho, Brunette, and Felix Balza. If you guys want to become patrons and get your name at the end of an episode, all you have to do is head to patreon.com, type in Murder in America. You can sign up for as little as $5 a month, and you get the ad-free version of every single episode we post as soon as it goes live on all streaming platforms. Follow us on Instagram at Murder in America and join our Facebook group.

Yeah, we love talking to y'all. So connect with us on social media. We love to see y'all's faces and hear y'all's voices. Thanks for being here with us for the first two episodes of the year. We really love this story and we love you guys. Next week's episode is really disturbing. So listener discretion is advised for next week. Bye, everyone. See y'all.

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