AUSTIN - On a sweltering Texas afternoon 40 years ago today, former Eagle Scout and Marine Charles Whitman transformed the tranquil University of Texas campus into a killing field.

From his perch on the UT Tower’s observation deck, 28 stories high, Whitman opened fire for an hour and a half before an Austin police officer killed him.

He left 16 people dead and 31 wounded.

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I see the UT Tower every single day, riding to and from work. And every single day, the sight of that clock tower reminds me of Charles Whitman.

Today, on the 40th annivesary of that dark day, the University of Texas isn’t doing too much to commemorate the event:

UT has remained mostly silent about the horrible day the tower became a sniper’s perch. To mark the 40th anniversary today, the school plans to simply lower flags on campus to half-staff, said Robin Gerrow, director of public affairs.

“It’s not a celebratory event,” said Carleton. “We have a sensitivity toward the families of the victims. We want to handle this whole thing with a keen sense of their loss.”

Make sure and read the Austin American-Statesman article, written by Brenda Bell, who was a student at UT at the time of the shooting. The Statesman recently added an online blog-like feature that allows readers to comment on stories. And the comments being left on this story are gripping — mostly from those who witnessed the event first hand as students or young children. Like this comment from Bob Anderson:

I was 15 years old and living near the Tower. After the shooting ended a roll call of the dead was heard on KLBJ radio. For some reason they did not notify immediately the next of kin. The popular radio newscaster was Paul Bolton. We listened for the names as One by one Bolton read the names and then he stopped. He was never heard from again that day. He had read the name of his grandson as one of the dead

Many people do not realize that there was a 17th death attributed to Charles Whitman:

David Gunby — A 23-year old electrical engineering student, Gunby was shot in the lower-left back, while walking towards the University library. During surgery to reconnect his severed small intestine, doctors realised that Gunby’s sole kidney had also been damaged by the shooting. He later required a kidney transplant, and to go on dialysis. He moved to Fort Worth, Texas and on November 7, 2001 announced he was stopping dialysis. He died a week later at Harris Methodist Hospital.

35 years after he was shot by Whitman, the medical examiner ruled Gunby’s death a homicide in conjunction with the shootings on the UT campus.

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Bizzare Records has the video and news coverage from 1966 (via YouTube)

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 | Trackback |