S2 Ep99: TEXAS - The University of Texas Tower Shooting (PT 1)

Murder In America

Blood In The Sink Productions

True Crime

4.8 • 8.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2023

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At approximately 11:35 am on August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman arrived at the University of Texas at Austin campus where he posed as a research assistant and told a security guard he was there to deliver equipment. He climbed twenty-eight floors of the UT tower and emerged on the observation deck where for ninety-six minutes he opened fire on innocent people below. In those ninety-six minutes, Whitman killed sixteen people, and injured thirty-one. The incident, which became known as the "UT Tower Sniper" shooting, was one of the first high-profile mass shootings in American history and sparked a national conversation about gun violence and mental health. The Texas Tower shooting remains one of the most brutal mass shootings in United States history, and was considered the deadliest on a college campus until the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. This is the story of Charles Whitman and you are listening to Murder in America.
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Transcript

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0:00.0	Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences.
0:04.0	We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers
0:07.8	even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.
0:12.0	Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.
0:18.0	This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.
0:23.0	Our story starts in Austin, Texas in the summer of 1966.
0:28.0	Right in the heart of Austin is the University of Texas, where Colin and I actually met years back.
0:36.0	In every university has a building that makes their campus distinguishable from the rest.
0:43.0	For our college, it was the UT Tower.
0:46.0	The tower was built in 1937, and it hovers over the campus at 307 feet tall.
0:54.0	There are 27 stories in a nice observation deck up top that overlooks the city.
1:00.0	If you were to walk on campus and see the tower, you would have no idea of the horrors that took place there over 50 years ago.
1:10.0	In 2016, they finally erected a memorial, but before that, the only reminder of that horrible day was the bullet holes that can still be seen in the building surrounding the tower.
1:23.0	As we know, school shootings are very common in our country. It's become a part of American culture.
1:31.0	But in today's story, we are going to tell you about the mass shooting that started at all.
1:37.0	On August 1, 1966, 25-year-old architect student Charles Whitman, hold a large bag up to the tower's observation deck.
1:48.0	It has students, teachers, and civilians walked around campus. He pulled out a rifle, aimed it down, and using the scope of his gun, he began indiscriminately shooting at the people below.
2:01.0	Charles had been a sharpshooter in the Marines prior to this horrific day, so he was a good shot.
2:08.0	And with a bird's eye view, Whitman spent an hour and a half at the top of the tower, raining bullets down on the University of Texas.
2:18.0	Hundreds of people took cover in nearby buildings, or behind concrete pillars.
2:24.0	But even those hiding spots were no match for the X-Marine and his rifle.
2:30.0	When it was all over, 31 people were injured, and 16 people had been murdered, making it not only one of the first mass shootings in American history, but also one of the deadliest.
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