Good Morning: Too bad the Shrink didn't take him seriously

[Okla-homey]

http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/24454/2004921864707163234_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004921864707163234)

Aug 1, 1966: Mentally disturbed guy goes on a killing spree at UT.

41 years ago today, Charles Whitman takes a collection of firearms and ammunition to the observatory platform atop a 300-foot tower at the University of Texas and proceeds to spectacularly shoot 46 people, killing 14 people and wounding 31.

http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/22674/2004910667010956561_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004910667010956561)
Charles Whitman

A fifteenth died in 2001 because of his injuries. Whitman, who had killed both his wife and mother the night before, was eventually shot to death after courageous Austin police officers, including Ramiro Martinez, charged up the stairs of the tower to subdue the attacker.

Whitman, a former Eagle Scout and Marine, began to suffer serious mental problems after his mother left his father in March 1966. On March 29, he told a psychiatrist that he was having uncontrollable fits of anger. He purportedly even told this doctor that he was thinking about going up to the tower with a rifle and shooting people. Unfortunately, the doctor didn't follow up on this red flag.

On July 31, Whitman wrote a note about his violent impulses, saying, "After my death, I wish an autopsy on me be performed to see if there's any mental disorders." The note then described his hatred for his family and his intent to kill them. That night, Whitman went to his mother's home, where he stabbed and shot her. Upon returning to his own home, he then stabbed his wife to death.

http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/20186/2004927492790774817_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004927492790774817)
Whitman and his mom in happier times

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Mrs Whitman, stabbed to death the night before the tower incident

The following morning, Whitman headed for the tower with several pistols and a rifle after stopping off at a gun store to buy boxes of ammunition and a new carbine.

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Afterwards, Cops spread out all the stuff Whitman brought along

Packing food and other supplies, he proceeded to the observation platform, killing the receptionist and two tourists before unpacking his rifle and telescope and hunting the people below.

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Recovering casualties under fire

An expert marksman, Whitman was able to hit people as far away as 500 yards. For 90 minutes, he continued firing while officers searched for a chance to get a shot at him. By the end of his rampage, 16 people were dead and another 30 were injured.

http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/23998/2004948184608942678_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004948184608942678)

The University of Texas tower remained closed for 25 years before reopening in 1999.

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http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/23759/2004914909942231084_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004914909942231084)

[Flagstaffsooner]

If you locked up all the psychos around there it would be a ghost town.

[Ike]

I remember one of my profs at OU telling me that not 15 minutes before all hell broke loose there, he had submitted his final copy of his PhD dissertation in the library.

And when he later learned the identity of the shooter, he was surprised to learn that he had grown up in the same neighborhood as Whitman, and known him as a boy.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

If you take the tour of the tower, you pass through metal detectors before you go up and there are armed guards on the tour as well. Also, you can still see the bullet holes in the cement wall in the corner they killed Whitman. They also tell you that the tower was not closed because of this incident, but because the suicides of people jumpingo ff of the tower were growing. There is now a cage over the top of the balcony on the clock tower to prevent jumpers as well. If you are in Austin, I recommend taking it.

Of course, I went up there with an OU hat on and I was stared at the entire time by the tour guide!!:D

[picasso]

I thought that was Kurt Russell that did all of that.

[12]

His wife was a cutiepie.

What a terrible day that was.

[Pricetag]

A fifteenth died in 2001 because of his injuries.
WTF? How does one die 35 years later from injuries?

[SoonerStormchaser]

It's guys like him that do a disservice to all us Eagle Scouts out there!

[47straight]

WTF? How does one die 35 years later from injuries?


It caused him some sort of condition that he succommed to.

[Okla-homey]

WTF? How does one die 35 years later from injuries?

FWIW, occasionally they add a name to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC. People can and do succumb to wounds a very long time after they sustain them.

[Okla-homey]

http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/24294/2004552253982996538_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004552253982996538)

I can't believe none of you yahoos posted the obligatory FMJ reference:



[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "Does anyone known who Charles Whitman was?" [Blank faces.] "None of you dumba$$s knows?" [Cowboy slowly raises his hand.] "Private Cowboy?"

[Private Cowboy] "Was he the guy that shot a lot of people
from a roof?"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "That's right, Private Cowboy. He shot and killed twelve people from a 28-story observation tower at the University of Texas, from distances of up to four hundred yards." [The recruits look impressed.] "Does anybody know who Lee Harvey Oswald was?" [Almost every hand goes up.] "Private Snowball?"

[Private Snowball] "He shot Kennedy, Sir!"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "That's right. And do you know how far away
he was?"

[Private Snowball] "It was pretty far. From that book
suppository building, sir!"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "Two hundred and fifty feet. He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. He got off three shots with a bolt action rifle in six seconds, and got two hits, including a head shot. Do you know where those men learned to shoot like that?" [Joker raises his hand.] "Private Joker."

[Private Joker] "In the Marines sir?"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "In the Marines. Outstanding! Now those people did not put their Marine training to a good purpose but they showed what a Marine with his rifle can do, and before I am through you will all be able to do the same thing."

[Turd_Ferguson]

Who the hell is Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim:confused:

[Okla-homey]

Who the hell is Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim:confused:

You know him as R. Lee Ermey

[XingTheRubicon]

thought it was Hartman

[Turd_Ferguson]

I know who R. Lee Ermey is. I thought he was Gunny Hartman?

[usmc-sooner]

it was GySgt. Hartman

it just goes to show what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do.

[sanantoniosooner]

it was GySgt. Hartman

it just goes to show what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do.
pfffffffft

"motivated" postal workers are just as capable.

[Jerk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQ1yvV9xxM

[usmc-sooner]

pfffffffft

"motivated" postal workers are just as capable.

postal workers my *** :D

when was the last time you saw a mailman hit em at over 500 meters? See this guy and Lee Harvey Oswalt for the Marines.

and the Marines considered Lee Harvey a poor shot. :eek:

[12]

Well, giddyup for your team.

This hardly seems a topic to brag about.

[12]

Well, giddyup for your team.

This hardly seems a topic to brag about.

(gotta love the double post)

[Suerreal]

Awhile back, I put together a website comparing two very different songs about this incident.

Sniper, by Harry Chapin, and The Ballad of Charles Whitman, by Kinky Friedman, are about as different as two songs can be.

Read the lyrics & hear the songs here:
http://wingingit.us/music/sotw/sniper/sniper.html

- Sue

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

[Private Snowball] "He shot Kennedy, Sir!"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "That's right. And do you know how far away
he was?"

[Private Snowball] "It was pretty far. From that book
suppository building, sir!"

[Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim] "Two hundred and fifty feet. He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. He got off three shots with a bolt action rifle in six seconds, and got two hits, including a head shot. Do you know where those men learned to shoot like that?" [Joker raises his hand.] "Private Joker."

I may be mistaken, but isn't it the book depository. I am not sure I want a book suppository......:pop:

[XingTheRubicon]

I may be mistaken, but isn't it the book depository. I am not sure I want a book suppository......:pop:

It IS a depository, yet the character in the movie (pvt snowball?) mistakingly said suppository.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

It IS a depository, yet the character in the movie (pvt snowball?) mistakingly said suppository.

Ah, as many times as I have seen that...I have never caught that. Very cool!