University of Texas tower shooting

Charles Joseph Whitman was born on June 24, 1941, in Lake Worth, Florida, the eldest of three sons born to Margaret Elizabeth ( Hodges) and Charles Adolphus Whitman Jr. Whitman's father had been abandoned as a child and raised in a boys' orphanage in Savannah, Georgia, and described himself as a self-made man who had founded and expanded a successful plumbing business, in which his wife worked as a bookkeeper. The marriage of Whitman's parents was marred by domestic violence; Whitman's father was an admitted authoritarian known to be physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife and children. He willingly provided for his family and strove for their betterment but also demanded subservience and near perfection from all of them. The authoritarianism demonstrated by Whitman's father throughout his childhood and adolescence included dictating with whom, and when, his children were allowed to socialize either within or outside the Whitman household, and when Margaret Whitman was permitted to leave the house without her husband. Whitman has been described as a polite and extremely intelligent child—an examination at the age of six revealed his IQ to be 139. His academic achievements were encouraged by both his parents, and any indication of failure or a lethargic attitude were met with physical and/or emotional discipline from his father. With his parents' encouragement, Whitman became a Boy Scout at age eleven; he attained the rank of Eagle Scout three months after his twelfth birthday, reportedly the youngest ever individual to earn this rank at the time. Graduation and military service In June 1959, Whitman finished his schooling at St. Ann's High School in West Palm Beach, where he graduated seventh out of a class of 72 students. Weeks later, to celebrate his graduation and upcoming eighteenth birthday, Whitman and several friends drank themselves into a state of intoxication. Upon returning home, his father became enraged at his evident drunken state; he severely beat his son before throwing him into the family swimming pool. Three days after his birthday, without his father's knowledge but with his mother's approval, Whitman traveled to Jacksonville to enlist in the United States Marine Corps; he was deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on July 6. Whitman's initial military service was exemplary, and he earned a sharpshooter's badge and the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal while stationed in Cuba. Two years later, in September 1961, Whitman enrolled at the University of Texas, where he studied mechanical engineering via a scholarship approved and funded by the Naval Enlisted Science Education Program. To his fellow students at the University of Texas, Whitman was regarded as an amiable and promising student with a penchant for practical jokes. However, some acquaintances noted a morbid aspect to Whitman's personality. One acquaintance of Whitman's, Francis Schuck, Jr., would later recollect that on one occasion in Whitman's first year of studies, Whitman had stood at the window of his dormitory room staring at the UT Tower before remarking: "A person could stand off an army from the top of it before they got to him." Marriage On August 17, 1962, Whitman married Kathleen Frances Leissner, a 19-year-old teaching student whom he had met at the university six months previously, and to whom he had become engaged on July 19. The couple chose Whitman's parents' wedding anniversary for the occasion; Whitman's family traveled from Lake Worth to attend the ceremony and his younger brother, Patrick, served as best man. The ceremony was held at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Kathleen's hometown of Needville, Texas, before the couple honeymooned in New Orleans. University life Although Whitman had initially been an assertive student, largely due to an increasingly lackadaisical attitude to his studies and resultant poor academic performance, the Marine Corps deemed his academic performance insufficient to warrant the continuation of his scholarship and he was ordered to return to active duty in February 1963, being stationed in Camp Lejeune to serve the remainder of his enlistment. Despite a November 1963 court-martial pertaining to instances of gambling and usury, Whitman achieved the rank of Lance Corporal while stationed at Camp Lejeune. He was honorably discharged from the Marines on December 4, 1964 and returned to Austin where—in March 1965—he enrolled in an architectural engineering program at the University of Texas as his wife worked as a biology teacher at Lanier High School. In an effort to obtain his engineering degree faster, Whitman undertook a full academic workload. By 1966, he had also studied for and passed a state licensing exam for real-estate agents. As the teaching salary Whitman's wife earned was insufficient to sustain the lifestyle the couple desired, both also held part-time jobs. Parents' divorce In early March 1966, Whitman's mother announced her decision to divorce her husband after over 25 years of marriage because of his continued physical and emotional abuse. Upon receipt of this news, Whitman immediately drove overnight to Florida to help his mother move to Austin. Whitman's youngest brother, John, also left Lake Worth to relocate to Austin with his mother, although his brother Patrick remained in Florida with his father. Reportedly, Whitman was so fearful that his father would resort to violence against his mother as she prepared to leave him that he summoned a local policeman to remain outside the house while she packed her belongings. Shortly after Margaret Whitman relocated to Austin, she obtained employment as a cashier in a local cafeteria and moved into an upscale apartment. Psychological frustrations At the urging of his wife, on one occasion approximately two weeks after his parents' separation, Whitman sought professional help from a campus psychiatrist named Maurice Dean Heatly to discuss the sources of pressure, frustration, and distress within his life. Heatly's notes regarding this two-hour session reveal Whitman—whom Heatly observed to be a somewhat self-centered and egocentric individual—had disclosed that he constantly strove to better himself and that he had endured increasingly frequent headaches. Whitman also revealed his sense of self-loathing over the fact that he had twice struck his wife throughout the course of their marriage, his resultant fear of becoming a frequent woman beater in the mold of his "demanding" father, Dr. Heatly's notes from this session also reveal that Whitman had been "oozing with hostility" throughout the entire session, that he had sensed something was wrong with himself, and that Whitman had disclosed his developing fantasies of shooting random people from the observation deck of the UT Tower. He is known to have twice visited the observation deck of the UT Tower in the ten days prior to August 1, 1966. On the first occasion, on July 22, he had been in the company of his brother John and a friend; on the second occasion six days later, he had been alone. ==Murders==

Margaret and Kathleen Whitman At 6:45 p.m. on July 31, 1966, Whitman sat at his typewriter and began composing the first of his two suicide notes, in which he outlined his intentions to murder his wife and mother prior to committing his act of mass murder at the University of Texas. Midway through composing this note, he was interrupted by two friends named Larry and Elaine Fuess. Both later remarked Whitman seemed "particularly relieved about something—you know, as if he's solved a problem" and that on two occasions throughout the evening, Whitman remarked: "It's a shame that [Kathleen] should have to work all day and then come home to..." In both instances, Whitman neither finished his sentence nor elaborated further. The trio conversed for a few hours before the Fuesses left so that Whitman could drive his wife home from her part-time job as a switchboard operator. Kathleen Whitman is believed to have immediately retired to bed. Shortly after midnight (at approximately 12:30 a.m.), Whitman drove to his mother's Guadalupe Street apartment and stabbed her to death with a bayonet before placing her body upon her bed and covering her with sheets. He then grabbed a yellow legal pad and penned the second of his two suicide notes, which he left beside her bed. He then returned home and, at approximately 3:00 a.m., repeatedly stabbed his wife through the heart as she lay asleep in their bed before—in largely illegible handwriting—finishing composing his first suicide note. In both suicide notes, he professed his love for both his wife and mother, saying he had killed them to spare them humiliation and—in his mother's case—to alleviate her suffering. He also outlined the "intense hatred" he felt for his father because of the physical and emotional abuse his father had inflicted upon his mother throughout their marriage, describing this hatred as "beyond description". Final preparations used by Whitman in the University of Texas tower shooting Later that morning, Whitman phoned his wife's boss to explain she was ill and unable to attend work that day; he then rented a dolly before driving to his bank, where he cashed $250 worth of bad checks () — one drawn from his own account, and another from his mother's. At 9 a.m. he 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 travel to Florida to hunt wild hogs. Thirty minutes later he purchased four more carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent from Chuck's Gun Shop before purchasing a 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun from a nearby Sears. Whitman then returned home, where he sawed off the butt and barrel of the shotgun in his garage. All these purchases were then placed into Whitman's footlocker, which he had retained from his service within the Marine Corps. Whitman also packed into his footlocker a Remington Model 700 6-mm bolt-action hunting rifle equipped with a Leupold M8-4X scope, a .35-caliber Remington pump action rifle, a 9-mm Luger pistol, a Galesi-Brescia .25-caliber pistol, a Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolver, and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. He also packed assorted cans of food in addition to a flask of coffee, vitamins, Dexedrine, Excedrin, earplugs, three-and-a-half gallons of water, matches, lighter fluid, rope, binoculars, a machete, a hatchet, three knives, a small Channel Master transistor radio, toilet paper, a razor, and a bottle of Mennen deodorant. Shortly before driving to the University of Texas, Whitman also donned blue nylon khaki coveralls over his shirt and jeans in an effort to appear as a janitor, repairman, or deliveryman and thus deflect any suspicion upon his arrival at the university. University of Texas At approximately 11:25 a.m., Whitman reached the University of Texas at Austin, where he displayed false research assistant identification to a guard in order to obtain a 40-minute parking permit with the explanation he was delivering teaching equipment to a professor. Whitman then wheeled his equipment toward the Main Building of the university. He is believed to have entered the Tower between 11:30 and 11:35 a.m. and may have timed his entrance to the tower to coincide with the 11:45 a.m. student class changeover in order to maximize the number of available targets walking around the campus. of the University of Texas Upon entering the Main Building, Whitman found the elevator did not work. An employee named Vera Palmer—believing Whitman was a repairman—informed him the elevator had been "turned off" before reaching for a switch to activate it for him; Whitman smiled as he thanked Palmer, stating, "Thank you ma'am", before repeatedly saying: "You don't know how happy that makes me... how happy that makes me." He exited the elevator on the 27th floor, then hauled the dolly and equipment up a final flight of stairs to a hallway, then down a corridor toward the observation deck. UT Tower homicides Inside the reception area, Whitman encountered 51-year-old receptionist Edna Townsley; he bludgeoned Townsley into unconsciousness with his rifle butt—splitting her skull—before dragging her body behind a couch. As Whitman hid Townsley's body, he was surprised by a young Texan couple named Donald Walden and Cheryl Botts, who entered the room from the observation deck as he leaned over the couch. Botts later stated she and Walden believed Whitman, holding a firearm in each hand, was about to shoot pigeons; she smiled and greeted Whitman, who smiled back and said, "Hi, how are you?" Both observed a dark stain on the carpet close to where Townsley had been seated, which Botts assumed was varnish. Moments after Walden and Botts exited the 28th floor, Whitman constructed a makeshift barricade to the floor entrance using Townsley's desk, two chairs, and a wastebasket. As he was about to enter the observation deck, he was surprised by a vacationing Texarkana family attempting to navigate the barricade. As 16-year-old Mark Gabour attempted to prise the entrance to the staircase open, Whitman wheeled and fired at the family with his shotgun, killing Mark and his 56-year-old aunt, Marguerite Lamport, and seriously wounding 19-year-old Michael Gabour and his 41-year-old mother, Mary, before resealing his makeshift barricade. Michael Joseph Gabour Sr. (48) and William Lamport (who had been following their family members to the reception area) were uninjured; both briefly ran from the stairwell before attempting to provide care for their family members, then running for help. Gabour would later recall encountering Vera Palmer exiting an elevator on the 27th floor to relieve Edna Townsley's receptionist position; he frantically cautioned the young woman as to the ongoing homicidal commotion. Palmer immediately returned to the ground floor. After again securing the makeshift barricade, Whitman fatally shot Townsley once in the head before wheeling his footlocker to the six-foot-wide observation deck, where he wedged the dolly against the sole entrance door before—at approximately 11:46 a.m.—donning a white headband and unpacking his weapons from the footlocker, which he placed around all four sides of the deck. Observation deck shootings At 11:48 a.m. Whitman began shooting from the observation deck above the ground. His targets were random individuals upon and around the campus, although the majority were young students, including an 18-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant and whose unborn child was fatally shot—the first individual Whitman shot from the observation deck. Several of those killed or injured were shot on or near a section of Guadalupe Street known as the Drag, which is home to coffee shops, bookstores, and other locations popular with students and is located to the west of the Main Building; numerous others were shot from the other three sides of the observation deck. In the first 20 minutes after Whitman first fired from the tower, he shot the majority of his victims. Initially, several individuals upon and close to the campus mistook the sound of gunfire for noise sourcing from a nearby construction site One student within the tower at the time of the shootings, 23-year-old Norma Barger, later recollected looking from her fourth floor window and observing six individuals sprawled close to the tower. Initially, Barger "expected the six to get up and walk away laughing" before she noticed the blood by their bodies and saw another individual fall to the ground. Nonetheless, several people also risked their lives to rescue those wounded as Whitman remained upon the observation deck. Ambulances from local funeral homes and an armored car were also used to reach the casualties as local news reporters broadcast updates of the ongoing situation, warning the public to avoid traveling close to or venturing onto the university campus. As the shootings continued, several police officers and civilians provided suppressive fire from the ground with firearms of varying calibers including pistols, shotguns, and hunting rifles, and 30-year-old funeral home director Morris Wayne Hohmann, who was shot and seriously wounded seconds after entering Whitman's view from behind the cover of the ambulance in which he had been transporting wounded people to local hospitals. Police chartered a two-seater Champion Citabria light aircraft, from which sharpshooter Marion Lee attempted to obtain a clear shot of Whitman as the aircraft orbited close to the tower; however, rising heat waves created turbulence, limiting the stability of the aircraft and thus Lee's ability to focus. Whitman fired two shots into the aircraft before pilot Jim Boutwell navigated to a safe distance, from which he continued to circle, seeking to distract Whitman and further limit his ability to fire from the tower. Police response Four minutes after Whitman first opened fire from the tower, the Austin Police Department received their first reports of an active shooting incident at the University of Texas. All available police officers and highway patrolmen in the vicinity of the university were immediately dispatched to the site. One of the first officers to arrive, 23-year-old Austin patrolman Billy Paul Speed, took refuge behind a columned stone wall. Whitman shot through a six-inch (15 cm) space between the columns of the wall and killed Speed with a single shot to the upper chest. Civilian Allen Crum (40), a retired United States Air Force tail gunner, became aware of the shootings when he noticed teenager Aleck Hernandez lying close to the University Book Store Co-Op he managed and surrounded by several individuals. Initially, Crum believed a fight was in progress, but quickly realized the teenager had been shot in the upper leg and that the assailant was continuing to fire from the UT Tower. Unable to make his way back to his store safely after assisting in providing first aid to Hernandez, Crum proceeded to the tower, where he offered to help the police. Inside the Main Building, he was provided with a rifle by Department of Public Safety Agent William Cowan. Crum then accompanied Cowan and Austin Police Officer Jerry Day up the elevator to the 27th floor. Officer Ramiro Martinez was off duty at home when he heard news reports of the ongoing shooting at midday. Having called the police station to offer assistance, Martinez was instructed to go to the campus to assist in redirecting traffic; upon arrival, he found other officers already performing these duties, and thus ran toward the tower where, having ascended the elevator to the 27th floor, he encountered officers Day and Cowan, and Allen Crum. Austin Police Officer Houston Roy McCoy (26) also proceeded to the Main Building; he was able to safely cross the campus as he encountered a university employee familiar with the underground tunnels of the campus; as such, he and a small number of other officers were able to safely reach the Main Building. Upon the 28th floor, McCoy encountered Crum, Day, and Martinez. ==Ascent to observation deck==

On the 27th floor, the quartet of Day, Crum, Cowan and Martinez—plus two other officers named Jack Rodman and Leslie Gebert (who had separately ascended to this floor)—encountered a distraught Michael Gabour Sr., who hysterically shouted that his entire family had been murdered inside the tower by the gunman as he clutched his wife's bloodstained shoes. Gabour attempted to wrestle a rifle from one of the officers; Day and Cowan restrained the distraught man as Rodman and Gebert returned to the ground floor via the elevator, where they instructed Vera Palmer to switch off all elevators within the building before they began securing all perimeter entrances to the edifice as Martinez and Crum ascended the stairs to the 28th floor. (Day followed Crum and Martinez to the 28th floor shortly thereafter; Cowan established a police communications post.) As Martinez and Crum ascended the stairs to the observation deck, Crum asked, "Are we playing for keeps?", to which Martinez responded, "You're damn right we are." In response, Crum replied, "Well, you better deputize me." Martinez replied, "Consider yourself deputized." Midway upon the stairwell leading to the reception area, Martinez and Crum found the bodies of Marguerite Lamport and Mark Gabour and the severely injured Mary Gabour and her older son, Michael. Michael Gabour—slumped against a wall at the base of the stairway—had initially been knocked unconscious and had only recently awakened. He informed Martinez and Crum there was only one gunman before gesturing toward the observation deck and stating, "He's outside." After positioning Mary Gabour on her side to prevent her from drowning in her own blood, the two men continued ascending to the reception area, where they discovered the mortally wounded Edna Townsley. End of incident At approximately 1:21 p.m. Martinez and Crum reached the door to the observation deck. Martinez first dislodged the dolly Whitman had wedged against the entrance door before instructing Crum to remain positioned outside the door with his firearm focused to provide cover from their right, and to shoot anyone who appeared in his sights from this southwesterly direction. Martinez then proceeded warily to the left. McCoy and Day separately reached the observation deck shortly thereafter: McCoy immediately followed Martinez to Crum's left; Day—arriving at the observation deck shortly after McCoy—proceeded to Crum's right, with Crum providing cover. Seconds after Day began proceeding toward the southwestern corner of the observation deck, Crum—having heard the sniper's footsteps proceeding toward the corner of the observation deck he covered—fired a single shot from his rifle into the southwest corner of the parapet, directing Whitman away from his line of fire and toward the northwestern corner of the observation deck. As Whitman crouched close to the northwestern wall of the observation deck with his firearm focused in the direction of the source of Crum's rifle shot, Martinez and McCoy rounded the northeastern corner. Martinez emerged from cover and immediately fired in Whitman's direction, missing with most or all of his six revolver shots. Almost simultaneously, McCoy leaped from cover as Martinez rapidly fired in Whitman's general direction; he recollected observing Whitman's head looking over the light ballast. McCoy fired at Whitman's white headband, hitting him between the eyes with several pellets and killing him almost instantly. McCoy then fired his shotgun a second time, hitting Whitman on his left side. Whitman fell to the ground; Martinez then grabbed McCoy's shotgun, ran to Whitman's prone body, and fired a direct shotgun blast into Whitman's left arm at close range. As these instructions were relayed, Allen Crum waved a white handkerchief from above the parapet to signal the sniper's siege from the tower was over. Several of the immediate media broadcasts and publications erroneously referred to Crum as the sniper waving a white flag in a public gesture of surrender. ==Immediate aftermath==

Public convergence , depicting the locations of several individuals shot from the Main Building In the minutes immediately following the media announcement of the sniper's death, several hundred students, staff, and citizens within the vicinity of the Main Building emerged from cover and silently converged upon and around the campus. According to one survivor, few "said anything" as all present were in a state of disbelief and stunned silence. KTBC reporter Neal Spelce later stated those converging upon campus "looked like they were mesmerized ... they, they weren't looking at each other; they weren't talking to each other ... most of them were just kind of walking around as if dazed and wondering what in the world has happened ... to my world." Perpetrator's identification An examination of Whitman's personal possessions revealed several identification cards. By 3 p.m., his identity had been formally established and his name broadcast nationwide. Whitman's father—upon hearing news reports of his son's identification—contacted the Austin police and provided both his son's address and that of his former wife. Shortly thereafter, police discovered the bodies of both women and the suicide notes Whitman had left close to their bodies. At Whitman's home, investigators also discovered a note he had placed alongside two cameras and his wife's wedding ring upon a dresser beside their bed. The note simply read: "Have the film developed in these cameras. Thank you." Also discovered was a collection of written admonitions he had apparently read on a daily basis stored inside an envelope. On the outside of the envelope, Whitman had penned a final message: "8-1-66. I never could quite make it. These thoughts are too much for me." ==Victims==

Charles Whitman killed seventeen people and wounded at least thirty-one others over the course of thirteen hours before he was killed on the observation deck of the UT Tower on August 1, 1966. All but two of those killed and all injured sustained their wounds after Whitman reached the 28th floor of the Main Building less than two hours before his own death. The fatalities include an unborn baby boy, a 17-year-old girl who succumbed to her injuries one week after the shooting, and a man shot at age 23 who succumbed to his injuries thirty-five years after the event, and whose death was officially ruled a homicide. Beyond those killed and injured within the Main Building and the first two people shot from the observation deck of the tower, the precise order of Whitman's firing cannot be ascertained. Killed Prior to shootings • Margaret Elizabeth Whitman (43). Perpetrator's mother. Stabbed to death in her Guadalupe Street apartment. • Kathleen Frances Whitman (23). Perpetrator's wife. Stabbed to death in the couple's Jewell Street apartment. UT Tower shootings • Edna Elizabeth Townsley (51). Receptionist. Bludgeoned into unconsciousness with the butt of Whitman's rifle, then shot in the head. Townsley died of her injuries two hours after Whitman's death. • Mark Jerome Gabour (16). Tourist. Shot in the head by Whitman as he attempted to navigate the makeshift barricade Whitman had constructed to the 28th floor. • Marguerite M. Lamport (56). Tourist. Shot by Whitman as she ascended the stairwell to the 28th floor. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Brackenridge Hospital. • Baby Boy Wilson. Unborn child of 18-year-old Claire Wilson—the first person shot from the UT Tower. • Thomas Frederick Eckman (18). Freshman student and fiancé of Claire Wilson. Eckman was shot through the chest seconds after Wilson was hit. He died almost immediately. • Thomas Ray Karr (24). Senior student. Karr was shot in the spine as he walked to his apartment following a Spanish exam, reportedly as he attempted to assist Griffith. He died in a hospital emergency room at 1:10 p.m. he died at age 58 one week after discontinuing dialysis resulting from his health having deteriorated to the degree of his becoming largely bedridden via kidney disease. • Paul Bolton Sonntag (18). High school graduate. Sonntag and his girlfriend, Claudia Rutt, took refuge behind a construction barricade on Guadalupe Street upon hearing gunfire from the UT Tower. When Sonntag abruptly stood, Whitman shot him in the mouth, killing him instantly. Rutt's friend, Carla Sue Wheeler, was shot in the left hand as she attempted to prevent her from emerging from cover to assist Sonntag. • Harry Walchuk (38). Walchuk was a PhD student and father of six children. He was shot once in the chest on Guadalupe Street while leaving a magazine store. • Officer Billy Paul Speed (23). Austin Police officer. Patrolman Speed was shot through a gap in the masonry between decorative balusters on the South Mall at 12:08 p.m. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Brackenridge Hospital. • Roy Dell Schmidt (29). Electrician. Schmidt had taken cover with several other people behind his vehicle some from the tower. Approximately 30 minutes after Whitman had begun shooting, Schmidt stood in the belief he was out of range and was almost immediately shot in the abdomen. He was the fatality farthest from the tower. Wounded • Mary Frances Gabour (41). Tourist. Shot in the head and spine within the UT Tower. Her injuries left her crippled and declared legally blind. • Michael Gabour Jr. (19). Tourist. Shot within the UT Tower. Gabour's injuries left him unable to complete his US Air Force Academy training. • Devereaux Maitland Huffman (31). PhD student. Shot in the arm and chest close to the Main Building. He fell to the ground, feigning death. Secretary Charlotte Darehshori came under fire as she ran to help Huffman and Robert Boyer; she took refuge behind a concrete flagpole for an hour and a half until the shooting ended. • Carla Sue Wheeler (18). Student. Shot through the hand as she attempted to restrain her friend Claudia Rutt from emerging from cover to assist Paul Sonntag. • Oscar Royvela (21). Student. Royvela was shot in the chest and arm close to the Hogg Memorial Auditorium as he attempted to assist Garcia. • Robert Lee Heard (36). Associated Press reporter. Shot in the upper left arm. • Janet Paulos (20). Student. Shot once through the chest on Guadalupe and 24th St. as she and her fiancé, Abdul Khashab, walked to lunch. • Abdul Khashab (26). Chemistry student from Mosul, Iraq. Shot through the elbow. • Sandra Wilson (21). Student. Wilson was shot through the arm, the bullet entering her lung and grazing her spinal cord, on Guadalupe Street just moments after Paulos and Khashab were shot. • Lana Kay Phillips (21). Retail employee. Phillips received a shoulder wound while standing outside a clothing store on Guadalupe Street. • Homer Jackson Kelley (64). Shopkeeper. Kelley was shot in the leg while helping Mattson, Ehlke, and 21-year-old Tom Herman into his shop. • John Scott Allen (18). Student. Shot in the right forearm as he looked toward the Main Building from behind a window in the Student Union building. • Brenda Gail Littlefield (18). UT employee. A newlywed, Littlefield was shot in the hip while exiting the UT Tower. • Adrian L. Littlefield (19). Husband of Brenda Littlefield. He was shot in the back as he attempted to assist his injured wife. • Miguel Solis (25). Solis received treatment for unspecified injuries sustained in the commotion, but was released from hospital within 24 hours. • C. A. Stewart. Stewart was not shot, but was injured in the commotion. ==Aftermath==

The University of Texas remained closed for one day following the University of Texas tower shootings before reopening on August 3. All flags across the university campus were flown at half-staff for over a week. Whitman's body underwent an autopsy at the Cook Funeral Home in Austin on the morning of August 2, 1966. His autopsy revealed a small, "fairly well outlined tumor [approximately] 2 x 1.5 x 1 cm in dimensions" in the white matter above his amygdala. Experts disagree upon whether this tumor contributed to the homicidal and suicidal mindset exhibited by Whitman prior to his death. His body was interred alongside that of his mother at Hillcrest Memorial Park in West Palm Beach, Florida on August 5. Kathleen Whitman was laid to rest within Davis-Greenlawn Cemetery in Rosenberg, Texas on August 3, 1966. Her father, Raymond Leissner, refused to harbor any hatred toward his son-in-law, who had murdered his only daughter, choosing to believe the tumor discovered upon Whitman's autopsy was the cause of his homicidal and suicidal ideations. a decision was made to permanently close the observation deck to the public. The observation deck itself was reopened to public access in 1999, but only via appointment-guided tours. All visitors are screened by metal detectors before they are permitted to enter the premises. The first class of commissioned officers of the University of Texas System Police Academy graduated the following year. Current commissioned police officers at the University of Texas undergo a variety of training programs designed to help them prepare to combat all threats on campus if the Austin Police Department or SWAT team responders are unavailable. resisted drawing public attention to himself regarding his own role in ending the massacre. McCoy had previously stated in 2008: "You're a policeman; you're required to enforce all federal and state laws and city ordinances and keep the peace, and that was our sworn oath." Allen Crum relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1972. He never returned to Texas and died of natural causes in March 2001 at age 75. On the twentieth anniversary of the University of Texas tower shooting, Whitman's father consented to a press reporter's request for an interview regarding his son's mass murder spree. One question asked in this interview was whether Whitman's ultimate motive for the murders had been to punish his father for the abusive and authoritarian methods in which he had raised his children in addition to the physical and emotional abuse he had inflicted upon Whitman's mother. In response, Whitman Sr. replied: "Yes: He's not punishing me [like] you'd say with a stick or anything like that; he's punishing me in the fact that I had to let the world know that if I did wrong, I'm sorry for it ... Yes, it hurt deeply. It always has and there will always be a hurt there, but I don't feel in any way that I was responsible for any of it." In 2006, a memorial garden was formally dedicated to those who died or were otherwise affected by the University of Texas tower shooting. This garden is located north of the university's landmark tower, with the design structure located around the middle of the three ponds located within this garden. Initial plans were to symbolically erect a visitor's walk around the pond: one side displaying imagery and plaques representing loss, violence, and chaos; the other side a more cathartic and healing semblance via reflection, hope, and solace. Although these initial plans were never fully implemented, by 2014, plans for a larger granite memorial and the installation of a bench around this memorial pond had been approved. At 11:48 a.m. on the fiftieth anniversary of the shootings in 2016, the University of Texas observed two minutes of silence prior to the unveiling of a stone monument engraved with the names of the fatalities at the Tower Garden. This polished memorial stone was unveiled directly behind a previously installed rectangular memorial structure and is engraved with the names of all the fatalities of August 1, 1966, symbolically inscribed to face away from the observation deck, and beneath an inscription reading Interfecti August 1, 1966. This ceremony was attended by several hundred individuals, including several survivors and first responders. The clock upon the UT Tower was also stopped at 11:48 a.m. on the fiftieth anniversary of the shootings and remained motionless for 24 hours. Distinguished service awards In 2008, the Austin City Council present Distinguished Service Awards to individuals (some deceased) who selflessly assisted in ending the University of Texas tower shooting: Officer Billy Paul Speed: City of Austin police officer. Killed near tower. Officer Phillip Conner: Former Army medic. Administered first aid to casualties and provided cover as other officers entered Main Building. Officer Jerry Day: Moved casualty to safety before ascending tower to observation deck. Officer Ramiro Martinez: Ascended tower to observation deck. First officer to spot and fire at sniper. Officer Houston McCoy: Ascended tower to observation deck. Fired fatal shots into sniper. Officer Harold Moe: Instrumental in saving the lives of two critically injured victims. Used portable radio to notify police the siege was over. Officer George Shepard: Instrumental in saving the lives of two critically injured victims. Officer Milton Shoquist: Instrumental in saving the lives of two critically injured victims. Department of Public Safety Agent William A. Cowan Jr.: Ascended tower. Instrumental in implementing communications network and removing people from the 27th floor. Civilian Jim Boutwell: Volunteered usage of light aircraft to police. Orbited tower in efforts to shoot and subdue sniper. Lieutenant Marion Lee: Sharpshooter in light aircraft piloted by Boutwell. Orbited tower in efforts to shoot and subdue sniper. Civilian Allen Crum: Ascended tower to observation deck. Assisted officers Day, Martinez, and McCoy in felling sniper. Civilian Frank Holder: University employee. Assisted officers in navigating tower to observation deck. Civilian William Wilcox: University employee. Navigated officers through underground tunnels to safely enter Main Building. ==Media==

Film • The made-for-television action drama The Deadly Tower is directly based upon the University of Texas tower shooting. Directed by Jerry Jameson and featuring Kurt Russell as Whitman, The Deadly Tower was released on October 18, 1975. • The 2016 documentary film Tower directly focuses on the events of August 1, 1966. Directed and produced by Keith Maitland, this 82-minute documentary features interviews with several individuals upon the campus on the date of the massacre including victims, rescuers, and law enforcement officers. Books • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Television • A 90-minute documentary, The Killing of America, features a section devoted to the murders committed by Charles Whitman. Directed by Sheldon Renan, this documentary was released in September 1981. • The made-for-TV series Great Crimes and Trials of the 20th Century has broadcast an episode focusing on Whitman's murders. Commissioned by the BBC and narrated by Robert Powell, this 25-minute documentary was first broadcast in 1994. • ''Sniper '66: A 60-minute documentary written and directed by Whitney Milam. First broadcast in July 2006, Sniper '66'' received a Lone Star Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary in 2007. • The Discovery Channel has broadcast a 45-minute episode relating to Charles Whitman as part of the true crime series Deranged Killers. This documentary features interviews forensic psychiatrist Katherine Ramsland and author Gary Lavergne. • The 28th Floor. Commissioned by Investigation Discovery as part of the documentary series A Crime to Remember and narrated by Claire Jamison, this 45-minute documentary was initially broadcast on December 2, 2014. == See also ==