Texas tower shootings - KTBC special

[notredamehesamighty]

My understanding is that there is one, additional victim of this tragedy. David Gunby, a young college student who was injured by gunfire, survived, but his kidneys were so damaged as a result of this incident, he was forced, after an ill-fated transplant, to live on dialysis for nearly 30 year. In 2001 he finally opted to stop his treatment and died. The horrid legacy of Charles Whitman claimed another victim, 35 years after the madness began.

[jshalom65]

My aunt was on campus registering for the fall '66 semester and left about an hour before Whitman started shooting

[dyerseve07]

@jshalom65 meme

[steve7138]

This week-Aug. 1, 2011-45th anniversary of the shootings.

Once peaceful Austin was never the same.

[Sofeh]

knowing that people would run out in front just to get the people who were shot.. that makes me want to cry. thats just amazing.

[CathaterW]

2:20

horrifying, traumatizing, courageous.

[idiot685]

In a slight, little sliver of a way, I feel sorry for Whitman. Not for his decision, but for him being abused deeply by his father. His father, one day when Whitman quit college, first beat Whitman to a bloody pulp, than attempted to drown him. Another reason why Whitman went insane was nearly his entire brain was plagued by a gigantic, lethal tumor that would soon kill him. Yet still, the odd thing is, do any of you pay attention to the names of the people he killed? No. See it from their eyes.

[ProSkateNate90]

@idiot685 It was a small tumor with no effect on his mental state. Conformed in the autopsy.

[Dogheadj]

@ProSkateNate90 I agree with both of you - it was a small tumor, but it definitely could have affected his emotions and actions. Coupled with his amphetamine use, it 's actually a shared responsibility. He didn't choose to have the tumor; he did choose to do speed. Either way, it's a very sad case. This was a man who had a high IQ and real potential. He could have put it to use for good purposes. Unfortunately, his demons got the best of him. I don't think he really wanted to do what he did.

[gotch09]

@Dogheadj They used the tumor as a excuse for Charlie doing what he did. I think his wife beating,child abusing father had a whole lot to do with it. But in the end, Charlie was a monster.

[NYCBlonde]

@gotch09 That's about the whole of it. Sometimes people do terrible things--they have tumors, they have bad parents, but in the end they are responsible.  God rest his victims' souls.

[noodles41]

I don't hate anybody who was there, including whitman. I'm just genuinely sorry.

[hankfan79]

This is what 1 motivated Marine and his rifle can do.

[NotIkeman]

@hankfan79 It has nothing to do with him being a Marine. He was a hell of a shot before joining the dense dipshits-err, I mean, the Marines.

[Burnz2much]

@NotIkeman Yes, because we are all dipshits, I wonder what that makes you for being mentally retarded enough to believe that. Simple minded degenerate, I bet your parents are proud. lol

[gotch09]

We have to remember that this was 1966. And Austin was a lot smaller that it is now. Those 2 things are what made this so "out there". NOBODY but NOBODY would have dreamed that something like this would happen in America. BTW, Neil Spelch worked for television here in Austin for like decades after this.

[TYX91101]

Still not sure exactly how Whitman managed to carry a footlocker with guns and gasoline into the building and proceed to the rooftop. He killed a woman and her son on the top floor and wounded a third man before proceeding the the observation deck.

[1972glm]

@TYX91101 He used a dolly.

[TheRockHBKfan]

That is just terrible...

That guy from Nam', saving people, is a fucking hero! :) Respect!

[BubbaLee2]

VERY GOOD VID

[taterbrains]

"Want some help?" *-BOOOOM-*

[Snotra]

Man, all those scared people hiding, taking cover, baking on the hot summer concrete must have been terrifying

[snicky58]

LOL near the end of this ... "the consternation he {Whitman} was causing" ... little bit of an understatement, no?

[xj14y]

Spelce was also waiting at the Austin Airport for JFK coming from Dallas. He broke the news in Austin for that.

[slay63]

The house that Charles Whitman and his wife lived in is located at 906 Jewell St, Austin Tx 78704..it is still standing today. He killed his wife there and also killed his mother at her apt before going on his rampage.

[inmate4077]

The last time I went by this South/Central Austin house(2008), it was completely different, like torn down & completely re built, and the place was for sale.

[gotch09]

@inmate4077 I live off Oltorf, between South 1st and South Congress Avenue.

[ZombieCallum]

have you been there ? what about ed gien

[Ghostanti1]

@ZombieCallum Ed Gien is a fuckin beast

[xithbaby]

Yep, and the lady working in the office at the deck and 4 other people going to help her.

[KoNaNxPiEn]

civilians also used their own firearms to try to stop him

[MrsSarb]

KoNanx: That's the way Texas is. It SHOULD be like everywhere but now you cannot have a gun on any college campus!

[JOSUE5401]

@ZombieCallum: you can go to hell,i will go to texas.

[HeathenaBot]

@ZombieCallum

We can only hope somebody has some "fun" and removes the waste that is you from this apparent "hell".

[jt18023]

@ZombieCallum he chooses who lives and dies hes playing gods work

[gotch09]

@ZombieCallum Well, who in hell, doesn't want to go to heaven? I want to go to heaven but it doesn't haven't to right this minute.

[CaptainJackSparoe]

Thats crazy. The veteran from nam saving the kid looked fucked he musta bn havin crazy flashbacks seeing this.

good man.

[micamccook]

Oh my god...I started crying when seeing this. It's just terrible.

[PCTexasGuyz]

DAMN!!!!!!!!! Neil Spelce was that young back then?? WOW! KTBC-TV was a damn good station in Austin!, and they screwed it up when it switched over to Fox

[SailorCallie]

I lived in Austin during the Summer of 1995 when the switch occurred, and Neal Spelce went to KEYE (formally KBVO) soon afterwards.

[mginsel]

WOW, I was in 1st grade when this happened here in Austin. Remember it so well..AND...when the dinosaurs went extinct..Neal Spelce was there to cover it.

[NaVyKaTT]

Sad and Tragic.....I think this is the 1st school shooting!!!

[TigerMilitia]

@NaVyKaTT

Nope the 1st was July 21st 1764

[waltlantz]

Wonderfully interesting vintage news footage along with the live broadcast by KLRN tv (isn't that a pbs station now?). Also great to see people NOT childlishy using this as a forum to blather on about gun laws here.

[cymbalic]

I remember this as an 8 yr. old. My mom explained to me what was happening. My first experience learning of a school shooting. Sadly, it wasn't the first, nor the last...

[pickachew]

lol he shouldv had a cannon up there

[viennagirl8705]

damn that guy was prepared for anything...guns...knives...por­k and beans...its really intresting to see a news report from so long ago and how they covered one of the earlier shootings in the u.s

[slap1328]

Now that they have specialized untis such as S.W.A.T., we civilians will never get a chance to get deputized. DAMN!

[hairbird]

my father was a reporter for the FW star-telegram but was on leave and was working as a speech writer for attorney general wagner carr. when whitman was killed he grabbed hold of the gurney the emergency people were carrying and basically snuck into the tower to give the only 1st-person account of the scene. the piece has been reprinted several times in journalism textbooks.

[mw156]

Interesting tape - Tragic event - Brave people involved.

[violethill]

Yes, I was a kid living in Austin at the time, and I remember this broadcast. Earlier, Mom and we kids were concerned for our father who worked south of the Capital building. We were ecstatic to see him home at the end of the day. What a decade, huh?