rabid wombat
Member
https://abc13.com/ut-tower-shooting-university-of-texas-charles-whitman-austin/10923235/
No mention of those who retrieved their own weapons and shot back…
No mention of those who retrieved their own weapons and shot back…
This was the first of the “active shooter “ incidents that have plagued us since that day…
Perhaps the first with "modern" media coverage, but far from the first.This was the first of the “active shooter “ incidents that have plagued us since that day…
It has been suggested that Whitman's violent impulses, with which he had been struggling for several years, were caused by a tumor found in the white matter above his amygdala upon autopsy
In the months prior to the attack, Whitman had sought professional help for "overwhelming, violent impulses",[3] including fantasies about shooting people from the tower.[5] An autopsy conducted after his death revealed a hypothalamic tumor.
When I had about five years on the street (late seventies) I bought a copy of Street Survival... At that time it was the best book available on the tactics needed to improve your odds in an armed confrontation. All of this was long before the armed citizen movement and the book was directed towards law enforcement tactics and techniques with a very healthy dose of reality (more than a few crime scene pics of downed officers...).
At any rate they did a first rate analysis of the Texas tower incident and did a series of photos showing what officers and citizens on the ground could see, looking up at the building - as well as photos showing exactly what the shooter could see from his position. Those photos showed just how exposed those on the ground were - even behind cover of some sort that they thought would protect them... In short - on the ground you could see where the rounds were coming from - but you didn't have the slightest chance of hitting the shooter, while the offender had a clear view of almost everyone below him and was easily able to engage any target he chose...
I no longer have my copy of that book (lent it out -never returned...). but if you ever run across it - give it a look since there's still lots of good tactical advice about armed incidents that all us need to hear about...
The take-away from the Texas Tower incident, at the time, was more pro-gun than antigun, because of the large number of citizens that were able to fire back and suppress the gunman. In fact, of the two people that finally stopped the gunman, one was a civilian volunteer using his own M1 carbine. (The other was a Hispanic policeman.) Nobody was particularly upset that the gunman was able to get his guns. Easy access to weapons was definitely a double-edged sword here.How do you stop/ prevent a mind like that; there are probably many minds like that among us right now but they have not yet been pushed hard enough to be explosive. So, by default you take the weapons away because those type of minds cannot (usually) be predicted or corrected - and that is where we are.
The take-away from the Texas Tower incident, at the time, was more pro-gun than antigun, because of the large number of citizens that were able to fire back and suppress the gunman. In fact, of the two people that finally stopped the gunman, one was a civilian volunteer using his own M1 carbine.
Actually Officer Houston McCoy was with Officer Martinez that day and they both fired on Whitman.
He had sought help from a psychiatrist. Autopsy showed he had a brain tumor.How do you stop/ prevent a mind like that; there are probably many minds like that among us right now but they have not yet been pushed hard enough to be explosive. So, by default you take the weapons away because those type of minds cannot (usually) be predicted or corrected - and that is where we are.
What seems to me to be very ironic is that the DOD (USMC) taught him to be more proficient with a rifle - that seems like crossing some strange boundary to me - somewhat counterintuitive in a very strange way.
It was.Was it Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys ?
Given the times, and being in rural(ish) Florida, he probably brought a bunch of skills to the USMC.be very ironic is that the DOD (USMC) taught him to be more proficient with a rifle - that seems like crossing some strange boundary to me - somewhat counterintuitive in a very strange way.
What seems to me to be very ironic is that the DOD (USMC) taught him to be more proficient with a rifle - that seems like crossing some strange boundary to me - somewhat counterintuitive in a very strange way.
There was a documentary type movie about this,pretty accurate too.
I was too - summer school taking Civil War history with Dr. Lathrop.I was there also. I was crossing the campus on my way home from my morning classes (first term in law school) when the shooting broke out.