The Tower Shooting - 40 Years Later ("armed citizens shot back with their deer rifles")

News 8 Austin ^ | 7/24/2006 | Paul Brown

[zarf]

One of the greatest lyrics ever written was about this tower shooting.

Sniper by Harry Chapin

[newroark]

<> Unfortunately, they all missed.

[11th_VA]

Its rather cathartic knowing they tried ..

[P-40]

They kept him plenty busy and destroyed his ability to shoot unmolested. If you have even been up on that tower, you know what a perfect place that is for an ambush.

[MeanWestTexan]

But they pinned the shooter down.

“Gun free zones” are future killing zones for ROPers.

The ROP watch the news. They’ll copy Virginia Tech and do it on 20 “gun free” campuses all at the same time.

Low hanging fruit.

[Voltage]

Most likely it would be illegal for anyone on the campus to defend themselves. Unless you used a rock.

[MeanWestTexan]

“Unless you used a rock.”

No, that’s reserved for throwing at infidels and/or women suspected of dishonoring their family.

[LibWhacker]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LsJey0VSX9A

[tcrlaf]

But that was at ANOTHER University, 40 years ago, in Texas, before the era of Liberalism, “Gun-Free” Slaughter Zones, and political correctness....

[dangerdoc]

bump

[relictele]

About 20 minutes into the attack, civilians started to arrive with deer rifles. They helped police return fire.

Hmmm....the 2nd Amendment haters won't like this passage. It lends credence to the concept of populace=militia.

[wideawake]

Unfortunately, they all missed.

They failed to kill Whitman.

They suceeded in saving lives.

Had Whitman continued shooting completely unmolested, there would have been more corpses to bury.

[Roses0508]

My uncle taught there at the time. He suffered a minor wound, but it was the deciding (but not the only) factor in his resignation. He continued to teach, but not at university level after that.

He has never been angry at the shooter, only incredibly sad at the loss of life and innocence that day. The loss of innocence is something he talks about. He’s in his 80’s now and sometimes he’ll talk about the experience, but he is not particularly focused on it.

[Ancesthntr]

About 20 minutes into the attack, civilians started to arrive with deer rifles. They helped police return fire.

Try that now, even in Texas. They'll shoot you as soon as they see you with a gun, then resume going after the real perp.

[Calvin Locke]

Didn’t the autopsy conclude Whitman had an undiagnosed brain tumor? It’s been a while since I’ve read anything about the incident.

[bedolido]

I am 82 and remember the day that shooting took place. In texas you see pickup trucks with rifles in the back window all the time (I am not sure about today, but it was common to see them in the 1980's and 90's too).

I used to have a gun rack in my pickup truck but I used it to hold my fishing rod.

[dfwgator]

If you have even been up on that tower, you know what a perfect place that is for an ambush.

Everytime I walked past Century Tower on the UF campus, I would think the same thing.

[bedolido]

ooopppsss not 82 -— 62 (must double check my entries)

[P-40]

I have some photos somewhere of a nice green lawn with students milling about that is framed by one of the drain spout openings that Whitman was shooting through. Until people started shooting back...he had it made.