Charles Whitman Texas tower shootings - Huntley Report

[TheBrantwan]

wow im just spechless to do this but think of it in this way because of him we now have the SWAT tean

[TheTweeter53]

@MrAzrancher You are 100% correct in your analysis. News reporting was very professional. No fluff, reporters did their jobs, and nothing else. Far fewer commercials too back then. Also, far less money too! The reporter in this story was probably getting about 20G per year, good money in 1966! Huntley was probably making about $200,000. Today, the field reporter would make at least $300G and the anchor brings in around 10 million a year. That's why they carpet bomb us with ads today!

[altfactor]

KTBC was affiliated at the time with all three networks, so KTBC's Neil Speltz (sp?) probably filed this same filmed story for all three networks' newscasts.

That is why Speltz (sp?) probably ended his story without identifying the network, so the same story aired on all three evening newscasts.

[SuperSaiyaJInX]

it was actually 2:18

[SuperSaiyaJInX]

I wonder what that object that flew by the women was at 2:20 maybe be a bug or something else?

[zianclone234500]

what was he courtmartialed for??

[bustsomecaps]

frustration makes people kill, although charles has no obvious motives spree killers do have, a reason. Probably frustration with his tumor but im sure nnoone has a medical degree or the obvious clear facts...coz facts make a case youtube speculations dont..

[simpledood]

He had a tumor.

[lacouerfairy]

@thEannoyingE The owners are the University of Texas. And they don't repair it, because as tragic as that event was, it's part of history.

[mcvaldez210]

ANYBODY ELSE NOTICE THE TWO SHOTS @ 2:40 WHERE LESS THAN A SECOND APART AND FIRED IN TWO DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

[redstu35]

@mcvaldez210 Probably smoke from people returning fire from the ground...there was also an officer firing shots from an airplane orbiting the tower...

[dwoodruff83]

@mcvaldez210 That's dust from the policemen's bullet impacts. Most guns, including the one Whitman used, fire smokeless powder. That was way to much smoke to be from the muzzle blast.

[woodyfly]

Headaches can definitely drive you insane. I've been having daily headaches for over 3 years, it's extremely frustrating and irritable. Coupled with a bad childhood filled with emotional abuse, it's not a good match.

I hope that I don't turn into a school shooter or something...

[alexsandromoraes1]

Que atirador...isso sim é um exemplo para todos os Fuzileiros da ativa ou não...

[PrUnEJuIcEtHeThIrD]

This was 1966. This event pretty much LEAD to the creation of special police forces like the SWAT.

[psmgamer]

Whitman's story does fascinate me its amazing now he was able to shoot those people from 400 feet away in the tower. Its sad those people lost their lives to this crazy man who was missed up in the head. Can brain tumors really make you do crazy things or is all just made up? I know his father was abusive to him and his parents divorce probably made it worse for him. Plus he had an fascination with guns at an early age even went to the Marines to learn how to shoot.

[anumbertwopencil]

@psmgamer the marines fucked with his head bad is what i heard like alot of pressure or something

[Siconyte]

@anumbertwopencil

He also had a tumor that was driving him insane.

[tuasguampa]

Does someone know what happened to whitman's family? His brothers, how have they lived their lives after this tragic event? And what about his violent father?

[gotch09]

@asmg123 The tumor theory has floated around for so long that some people accept it as the truth. In reality while he did have a pea sized tumor on his brain, I thought the doctors ruled hat it had no bearing on the spree. It was something like in the wrong part of the brain. I think the closest to the truth is, someone wrote that Whitman had isues with his father.

[gotch09]

When can't blame the police, guys. This was 1966 folks. This event was so out there, even by today"s standards. At that time Austin was a much smaller town than it is now. No police force had a way to cope with something like this. And yes I live in Austin,TX, and even tho' I've never been the tower, they say there really are nicks still from "66 from Whitman firing so much.

[skaterock7734]

It is almost always prison. If the assholes were hung or stoned they would be singing a different tune. And I do mean EVERY time. Also, if assault is committed, the same should be returned. If some nigger gouges out an old woman's eyes, he should be strapped down and have his eye ripped out. That would lower the crime immensely.

[1jimjo]

@skaterock7734 I agree.

[t0neP]

To this day, there are still bullet holes on the tower form the shooting

[danegilbert]

wow, you're stupid.

[Reak55]

Hmm did Charles shoot into the campus or people on the street, didnt get it.

[coyote7272]

The campus is more than just a building. The park area he shot at was part of the Campus. I never saw footage of this until now, pretty cool stuff. Problem with people today is that they look for a reason, which is completely useless...

[TrueCrimesOfHistory1]

i think there was film about this!

does anyone know?

[toddbolden]

@azopimp there have been hundreds of thousands of us marines with the exact same training and didn't go out and murder over a dozen people. it was his personal and psychological issues

[Timmonsec]

@toddbolden Do you know the autopsy revealed he had a tumor who affected the sensible areas in his brain? actually that was the cause for this...

[toddbolden]

@Timmonsec that's very interesting, but so sad

[kevinchajka2010]

@toddbolden over a million Marines :)

[sidmute00]

@toddbolden He had a brain tumor....I guess you could call that personal...

[tripjet999]

Couldn't have done this without a GUN!

[HerbWalker]

He wouldnt have been STOPPED,.....without a GUN too!

[dawnninjawolf]

You could do more with a large enclosed fire or a bomb, even if guns disappeared tomorrow crazy people would still find creative and terrible means of killing lots of people.

Thats what crazy people do.

[cw1310]

@dawnninjawolf Good point.

[dawnninjawolf]

Thanks, I try!

[skaterock7734]

@dawnninjawolf Also, guns are never going to fully disappear lol. They only thing gun control does is put the weapons in the hands of the criminal.

[dawnninjawolf]

This quote says it all -"when men are pure laws are useless, when men are corrupt laws are BROKEN"

[skaterock7734]

@dawnninjawolf Eh, Idk if id completely agree with that xD. laws are always going to be broken as long as the deterrent is small.

[dawnninjawolf]

Which is why enforcement is always better than new legislation.

[searobsea]

he had brain tumor.

[JuSeo91]

Charles Whitman killed 12 people from a 28-story observation tower at the University of Texas from distances of up to 400 yards. Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK and was 250 feet away and shooting at a moving target and scored two hits including a head shot. Do any of you know where these individuals learned to shoot? In the MARINES!!

[bsabbathlistener]

good movie

[fan0frammstein88]

That is a direct quote from Full Metal Jacket. And he killed 14 people not 12.

[JimTheMingebag]

Seven six two millimeter, full metal jacket...

[ThaJohansson]

why does almost everyone get a thumb down!?

[Thejoseph04]

I hate it when people do something evil and when they get caught they use the mentally ill bullshit. He planned this step by step and Iam glad he is dead. Yes he had a tumor,yes his father was a asshole, but he made his choice to kill. If people keep using the mentally ill bullshit excuse then no one would be responsible for their actions

[JuggaloKermit]

he may have chosen to do it. but he was a marine and he was trained to kill and no nothing more... his tumor may have made him revert to his basic instinct.. kill,kill,kill. marines are trained to kill, and take cover. im not defending him or anything but im just saying..

[gpc]

Again, in English.

[lChupacabra]

LuLz

[gpc]

That's better twat! Now you're learning!

[lChupacabra]

Obvious troll is obvious.

[gpc]

Again, in English.

[lChupacabra]

Wat?!?

[garzaeduardo]

a mexican cop shot his crazy ass.viva la raza!

[bikerkidnd]

he was mentally ill and said he was said for what he wa about to do

[dergin38467]

30-06?!?! i thought he (whitman) used a 6mm remington 700

[Vladpryde]

He did, good job on the correct info.

[dergin38467]

thanx

[brendabaloyan]

This is the first mass murder by a civilian in a random case of shottings in the US, after that you know the rest......

[zapruder77]

oh, where's the tower,whers the gun?

[LeanaHM76]

At the University of Texas (in Austin). Go there and see it...It's on the campus!

[CommenterOnVideos]

If they didn't stop him he would of kept going for 2 weeks. He had the supplies to do it.

[jroberts7387]

At 2:54, you can just barely see Whitman . He's right under the clock.

[RiverBirch1967]

Those who risked their lives to help victims were SO brave.

[RiverBirch1967]

I recall even feeling a chill while walking by the tower in 1986.

[NewMadrid01]

wow when they were interviewing the man out of breath, the shots were heard in the background. what a horrible day, rip ut tower victims.

[ryanrocks135]

guns dont kill people, people do!

boobies!!!

[montanajuggalo]

icp made a good song about this its called the tower listen to it

[axemurderboi1340]

forshor called the tower-insane clown posse

WHOOP WHOOP

[TrueEventsOfHistory]

terrible tragedy!

[termometen]

totally :D

[yell0w82]

omg! when i was like 10 i has this party where hwen wnet bowling near campus, tyhen we walked by the tower at night and my dad told us about that and we were so freaked out we started running!lol

[dieselscience]

WHAT WE KNOW NOW. Whitman left a suicide note requesting an autopsy. The autopsy revealed a pecan sized tumor in his brain.

[Wuzzupy13]

it was walnut sized tumor actually LOL i have to study this as a case study in AS psychology. it's a good excuse to be on youtube ;)

[lulzyhorn]

Go Horns! Woooo!

[xURBANxASSASSINx]

ohh he was a sniper.. marine.. huh...

[scifiradioguy]

How would Brian Williams start this newscast?

"Good evening, we begin tonight with a nightmare on campus. A 24 year old man carrying two suitcases walked up to the top of the bell tower of the University of Texas at Austin, produced two rifles, a revolver and two pistols and began picking out targets without remorse. Before it was all over with..."

[steve7138]

Brian Williams would probably tell you that Chet Huntley and Walter Cronkite;s style of reporting were positive mentoring experiences.

[poodtang1]

It's usually the people that look ordinary that do this stuff mass killings/serial killers etc. Very few weirdo's would get even close to this point because people can see them coming from a mile away. This guy didn't look like a weirdo that's part of how he"could" get away with it. I think even then if people saw some weirdo with multiple breifcases they would have noticed.

[Achilles222]

What a difference in reporting then and now!!! Much more dignity and solemnity and much more in depth. News reports and news anchors along with everything else is dumber and more shallow now.

[q1111w]

i think he started all the shooting, and now they continue...

[mcstarr25]

radio, 3g of water, gasoline, a notebook and pen, a compass, a hatchet and hammer, food, two knives, a flashlight and batteries, and various other implements which made it clear he was prepared for a lengthy standoff. Additionally, he packed guns—a 35 caliber Remington rifle, a 6mm Remington rifle with a scope, a 357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver, a 9mm Luger pistol, and a Galesi-Brescia pistol. Later that morning he would buy two more weapons, a 30 caliber M-1 carbine and a 12-gauge shotgun.

[breezeman199]

He just walked up to the tower with all of this stuff and nobody thought,,,, WTF??? That is incredible!

[baller1322]

He had them in two briefcases. Back then he looked ordinary, it may have been wierd seeing someone with multiple briefcases but, it isn't going to spark the notion that he may have a shit ton of guns with him.

[steve7138]

This was 1966--shooting people from a tower was unthinkable stuff that never ever  happened in the USA until then, just like no one attacked NY and Washington, killing helpless mass people inside buildings, until 9/11.

[breezeman199]

I guess your right. Until it happens it always seems so inconceivable.

[Gman81dawgs]

When did dis happen?

[Silverlarkspur87]

The shooting took place on August 1, 1966.

[Gman81dawgs]

o thanx

[southwestpark95]

9mm rifle bullet M-14. wow. thats one hell of a brain splatter right there!!!!

[joeyjoeyjoseph]

Someones in the tower! shooting from the tower! ICP's song The tower is based on this shit!

[baller1322]

Duh if you watch the music video it constantl shows the tower.

[ZIPPTPH77]

Charles Whitman did have a brain tumor as it turns out. Poor bastard...

[Amphiarus14]

Note how fuckin nuts people were during the vietnam era. Look at how fuckin nuts people are now. No surprise to me.

[nick82107]

You're right...but every era has its people who are f----- nuts. When you think about it, it's a f----- nuts world.

[psychosmiley06]

i you guys want to see a song that was made about this shooting look up Insane Clown Posse - the tower

[LeanaJo76]

A very handsome man, he was, and had a very abusive father. He just snapped after he was discharged from the Marines. So sad...

[Sweeetie7227]

Yeah the thing about him having a brain tumour is true. that made him kill loads of people because it appeared to b right next to where the brain controls emotions and all. so yeah. appearantly it was affecting it.

[paulcarroll666]

there was song made about htis by icp called ''the tower'' luk it up it so cool

[drock311fk]

isnt there a movie of this? does anybody know what its called. I think ive seen it about 10 years ago on cable.

[jchris55]

The movie was called "The Tower" starring Kurt Russell; almost impossible to find and never on TV.

[kokujin1014]

CORRECTION: It's called THE DEADLY TOWER.

[koenraad72]

Right blame the freek brain tumor or the disadvantaged youth or all sorts of abuse,

lots of that around, there's all kinds of rage with all kinds of consequences, throw in a couple guns though and things get ugly fast!

[petclark1]

His father apparently regularly beat the crap out of him. Not that excuses Charlie's responibility for murdering 12 in cold blood. As for the brain tumour theories, in recent years the medical profession doesn't seem to think that would explain why he went postal. This happened just a few weeks after that sick f*^k Richard Speck murdered the nine nurses in Chicago and the mass murders seemed to happen more after this...1966 sure sucked.

[sunnyside500]

12 dead. Anything but campy! So to any Whitman wannabes reading this: We love you when you tolerate your sexual fantasies. Even enjoy them, like Mozart. You are NOT a cocksucker or child molester nor meant to be. You are not fucking your mother, brothers, sisters, boy scouts or girl scouts in real life even if you are thinking about it. If Larry Craig can survive so can you.

[uncromulent]

If only all his victims were carrying high powered weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and spent hundreds of hours working on their marksmanship, this tragedy might not have happened.

[LankanHearts]

he was suffering from brain tumor apparently... scarey what these disorders can cause people to do.

[ylais]

supposedly..yet one could say it was his marine training, or post traumatic stress..or anything.

it's easy to explain this kind of behaviour away with 'he had a brain tumour'. maybe he did.

evidence please? i mean from a coroner. and an independent one at that.

having a brain tumour doesn't equal=killing people with guns, and vice versa. killing ppl with guns does not = brain tumour.

[LankanHearts]

i found out he had brain tumor from a variety of sources, i didnt make it up, but if i'm wrong, then okay the internet needs to clean up its facts and get it striaght... i mean why would he kill all these people? Do you have an idea?

[XXbloodyxwingsXX]

what sources?

[johnnygnote]

Harry Chapin wrote an incredible song about this incident called "Sniper". I was living in HOuston as a child when this happened. When I moved to Austin in the early 70's I went up there. You could still see the bullet holes in the concrete from the police bullets.

[verrucktmonchen]

Much of the movie (Deadly Tower) is dramatized for public viewing and not based on all the realistic events as they transpired. Especially when it comes to how the tragedy ended. That part of the film is inflated and distorts the truth of what took place as officers closed in and took out the sniper. Just be advised to research all the facts before you believe what the movie portrays.

[mcdragon69]

You can find info on this movie on IMDB.

[mcdragon69]

There was a movie made of this incident. Kurt Russell plays Whitman. The movie was made in the mid to late '70s called "The Deadly Tower".

[logom0]

i have never heard of this

[squirm13]

There is a film by peter bogdonavich, called targets, which is partly about charles whitman, it start Boris Karloff.

[84darkfox]

well said emanresuebutuoy456

[emanresuebutuoy456]

Whitman is probably rotting in hell. Why is it whenever someone chooses to do something bad people say they must be mentally ill or have a problem with their brain but when people do something good we give them the credit for it? Face it there will always be people who choose to do bad things and people who choose to do good things and either way we must give the responsibility of an individual's actions to nobody or anything but to that individual. Good or bad.

[cbappa1]

Sounds like you're itching to take someone out

[ylais]

it is POSSIBLE that he had a brain tumour!

brain tumours CAN and DO make people violent, though not necessarily to this extent. and i know you cannot BLAME a person for getting a brain tumour.

things are not as black and white as you are tryin to make them out to be.

[lChupacabra]

He's dead. WTF does he care how he is potrayed. Dude is now nothingness.

That being said, what he accomplished was very impressive indeed.

[swedishvolvo]

What he accomplished? The guy killed a bunch of innocent good people trying to improve there life's and just go to school. He is an asshole for what he did. Impressive would have been someone else sniping his ass out of the tower.

[bestlives]

he was chill

[lChupacabra]

What are you talking about? He showed great heart/fortitude by taking out people at close range and he showed great skill when he took out people from long range.

Also, this went on for quite some time and it was impressive how long he lasted before they got to him.

I'm sure someone will do a better job in the future but you have to understand that Whitman is one of the forefathers to school shootings. He paved the way for others and his greatness should not be forgotten.

[gpc]

Yawn. You're trying to be outrageous but you're too stupid to do it well. Consequently, you're just fucking boring.

[lChupacabra]

Nothing I said was outrageous. I know people who have been screwed over by schools like The University of Texas and those schools must be taught a lesson. Charles Whitman has paved the way. It is now in the individual student's hands to man up and do what needs to be done.

[gpc]

Blah blah blah. More fucking verbal diarrhea. Whitman was a coward, a loser and an all-around douchebag. He thought he was going to be up there for days. LMFAO. They went up and shot his face off after 90 minutes. If anyone learned a lesson, it was him.

[lChupacabra]

He wasn't a douchebag at all. By all accounts he was a great guy but he had a brain tumor which changed the way he thought. Regardless, to those of us with sicknesses of the brain he is a great inspiration.

[gpc]

Yes, well, the clinical term for your particular "sickness of the brain" is "stupidity," and history demonstrates that it doesn't take much to be a great inspiration to those afflicted with that condition. Lots of people have brain tumors but they don't take pot shots at people on the street. And the pussy never raised his head above the parapet ONCE after the first cops arrived. That's all right: they got his ass anyway.

[branaginslaw]

Good work dude. douchbag.correct.coward.correc­t.

[dixichkn]

WOW. I talked with my folks about this some time back. My mom and dad were in Austin that day, Mom heavily pregnant with me (I was born 3 weeks later) They said they were thinking about running by campus that day but never made it, and heard about everything on the radio while heading back home that afternoon. Creepy stuff. Sad that 40 years later, we still don't have a handle on this sickness........

[nanlisa]

I was only 8 years old and between the third and fourth grades when this happened. Unfortunately, I was too young to even understand it, let alone remember it.

Along with this and the Virginia Tech shootings, the Kent State shootings also took place on a Monday; May 4, 1970. (I was only 12 then.)

[Staszu13]

*sigh* Given that we've seen the likes of the Luby shooting in Killeen, the shooting in San Diego, Columbine, and now Virgina Tech...what is it that makes these people shoot? Not in the sense of easy access to guns, blah blah, but in the sense of choosing to do this at all? Seems we've learned nothing in the 40 years since Charles Whitman went nuts...

[christinet8504]

Strangely, this is the reason my grad dad started a family tradition of going to A&M...

God bless the victims of VT...

[djwithnoname]

Kurt Russel played Whitman in "The Deadly Tower" aka "Sniper". It's a WICKED movie.

[gungeman81]

Lets face it. Mass Murder is and forever will be part of American popular culture.

[Chrissius]

That's crazy that Whitman was picking off people way out on the drag (Guadalupe St.), Austinites know what im talkin about.

But yeah, crazy about the VT massacre today...which doubled this tragedy in it's death toll. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

[Wutie921]

now the 2nd worst killing in US history...damn

[inoyouwuvme]

VT shooting today killed 22 people just as bad...

[samur1s]

32

R.I.P.

[chilidrew727]

samn today at virgina

[mooville32]

Dude made the cover Time that month!

[tedbundy111]

the main reason they said he did it wa s because his teachers kept giving him losusey grades

[Melix00xo]

he had a brain tumor

[lChupacabra]

Seeing that he couldn't spell losusey correctly, I can understand why.

[tedbundy111]

its the universitys fault for building that tower in the first place

[futbolt]

wow there he is, chet huntley :)

[musicom67]

is that clarinet drama music in the background???? did they use background music in the day faintly or is that audio bleed?

[bizrec]

its bleed-through from one of the times it was dubbed years ago

[KillerOfSouls]

I was a 6 year old, ( 1'st grade, Wooten Elementary ) living in Austin when this happened. I watched it live on TV although I was too young to understand what I was seeing. Really strange to watch it again through my adult's eyes.

[m4punisherak47]

wow never knew there was footage during the rampage.

[PC3900]

Nothing gives a feel for a time or event like contemporary news accounts - great posting.

[qbert1977]

someone was having a case of the mondays...

[dambreaker]

most people who have a case of the mondays dont go on a rampage killing others.

[futbolt]

yes but it's happened before

[gothreaper]

awesome find

[MrGeneKim]

Doubly awesome, given NBC's horrible record when it came to saving its TV newscasts in the 1960s.

[MrGeneKim]

Had a follow-up thought: The announcer at the beginning of the clip says "the time is 5:30." That implies Central Time, which in turn suggests this tape was made by an NBC affiliate in Texas.

[bizrec]

yes, it was recorded locally. the full version has all the commercials and everything.

[wmbrown6]

It also sounds like the audio transmission was via telco line, with the frequency response no higher than 5 kHz. People living in New York, for example, would've gotten higher-quality audio for that newscast, with the audio transmitted via microwave. And the picture from where Huntley was broadcasting, obviously emanated from an RCA TK-41 type camera.