University of Texas tower shooting

University of Texas tower shooting
The Main Building of the University of Texas at 12:53 p.m. August 1, 1966.
LocationUniversity of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Coordinates30°17′10″N 97°44′22″W / 30.2862°N 97.7394°W / 30.2862; -97.7394
DateAugust 1, 1966; 58 years ago (1966-08-01)
Stabbings: c. 12:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.
Shootings: 11:48 a.m. – 1:24 p.m. (UTC−06:00)
TargetPerpetrator's mother and wife, random individuals, first responders
Attack type
Matricide, uxoricide, mass shooting, mass murder, school shooting, shootout
Weapons
Deaths18 (including the perpetrator)[n 1]
Injured31
PerpetratorCharles Whitman
DefendersAustin Police Department, University Police, armed civilians[2]
Motive

The University of Texas tower shooting was an act of mass murder that occurred on August 1, 1966, at the University of Texas at Austin. The perpetrator, 25-year-old Marine veteran Charles Whitman, indiscriminately fired at members of the public, both within the Main Building tower and from the tower's observation deck. He shot and killed 15 people, including an unborn child,[4] and injured 31 others before he was killed by two Austin Police Department officers approximately 96 minutes after first opening fire from the observation deck.

Prior to arriving at the University of Texas, Whitman had stabbed his mother and wife to death—in part to spare both women "the embarrassment" he believed his actions would cause them.

Although Whitman's autopsy revealed a pecan-sized tumor in the white matter above his amygdala, the tumor was not connected to any sensory nerves. Nonetheless, some experts believe this tumor may have contributed to the violent impulses which Whitman had been exhibiting for several years prior to the massacre.[3]: 54 [5]

At the time, the University of Texas tower shooting was the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history,[6] being surpassed 18 years later by the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre.[7] It remained the deadliest school shooting in American history until being surpassed 41 years later by the Virginia Tech shooting.

  1. ^ Hight, Bruce (September 3, 2016). "UT Tower Shooting Claims One More Life". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  2. ^ Cagle, Tess (May 26, 2021) [August 1, 2016]. "The Forgotten Legacy of the 1966 University of Texas Clock Tower Shooting". The Daily Dot. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Unborn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Brothers, Dr. Joyce (August 3, 1966). "Psychologist Believes Sniper Hid Feelings". The Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  6. ^ "Sniper Leaves Fourteen Killed and Thirty-One Wounded". St-Louis Post-Dispatch. United Press International. August 2, 1966. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  7. ^ Andrey, Taylor; Pasley, James; Abadi, Mark (May 26, 2022). "The 30 Deadliest Mass Shootings in Modern US History Include Buffalo and Uvalde". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.


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