15 dead, 31 wounded [Dave in Texas]

Not Baghdad.

Austin Texas. 40 years ago today. A lunatic named Charles Whitman positioned himself at the top of the University of Texas clock tower, and began shooting innocents in the crowded city below him. Most accounts say he began firing about 10 minutes before noon.

Whitman was killed by Austin Police officers Ramino Martinez and Houston McCoy (there is some dispute about who did the killing but both of them shot the SOB). Officer Ramino Martinez later became a narcotics investigator, a Texas Ranger, and a Justice of the Peace in New Braunfels Texas.

There are differing accounts of the number of people killed by Whitman, some say 16 or 17. One of the first to die was Claire Wilson's unborn child. Victim David Gunby, wounded in the one functioning kidney he was born with, declined further dialysis treatments in 2001. The Tarrant county coroner listed his death as a homicide.

posted by Ace at 07:33 AM

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