A man dressing dark clothes and a ski mask started fire with an attack rifle Tuesday inside a University of Texas library, then destructively bullet himself. Police were hunting for a possible second suspect.
UT shooting in library
Today’s unfortunate UT shooting, in which a UT gunman took an automatic rifle to the University of Texas library and set free several rounds before shooting himself, carries eerie echoes of the 1966 shooting spree conveyed out by Charles Whitman, a student at the university who started a fire from the UT Austin campus’s famed tower, killing 14 people and injuring 32 others before he himself was killed by an Austin police officer.The 50,000-student campus – Campus police force spokesperson Rhonda Weldon said a man fired an automatic weapon on the 6th flooring of the Perry-Castaneda Library then shot himself dead. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the gunman fired an AK-47. Acevedo discovered a news conference that police are inquiring into what he described as a second crime scene front the library where shots also were fired.
Texas campus police chief Robert Dahlstrom expressed the suspect dressed dark clothes and a ski mask. Randall Wilhite, a addition law professor at the university, said he was driven to class when he saw “students start scrambling behind wastebaskets, trees and monuments,” and then a young man bearing an assault rifle running along the street.
“He was sprinting right in front of me … and he shot what I thought were three more shots … not at me. In my direction, but not at me, clearly not at me,” Wilhite said.
The professor expressed the gunman had the chance to shoot several students and Wilhite, but he did not.
Police were scouting nearby buildings with bomb-sniffing dogs to hunt for the possible second suspect and make sure no chemical compound had been left behind.
“What we’re doing right now is being methodical about eliminate the second suspect,” Acevedo said.
No shots were fired by law enforcement, Acevedo said.
The university canceled classes for the day. Police and university agent locked down the campus for several hours and early afternoon began to enable students to leave.
In an e-mail attentive to students and staff, the university said police were seeking for the possible second shooter.
Weldon said there was no story that the possible second suspect may have been equipped, but that police are capturing all safeguards and protection the campus locked down.
Law enforcement from campus police, Austin’s police and the state Department of Public Security hurried onto campus at the first articles of the shooting. Tank-like armor-plated vehicles were placed near the library. A DPS helicopter surrounded the campus overhead.
Jennifer Scalora, who workings in admissions, was in her office about 100 yards from the library. She said the campus — one of the largest in the country — was now senseless except for police, SWAT teams and helicopters.
“Campus is very silent. You can hardly see anyone moving,” Scalora said.
“The students did their part. They clarified the streets. They cleared the grounds in a very fast method” Acevedo said.
Tuesday’s shooting is not the first to the school.
On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman went to the 28th floor notice deck at the UT clock tower in the center point of campus and started shooting at people below. He murdered 16 people and injured nearly three dozens before police killed him about 90 minutes after the siege began.
The Perry-Castaneda Library is one of the several on the campus and is one of the busiest university student libraries.
Student Joshua Barajas, 23, said he normally is in the library in the mornings but was delayed Tuesday when he made a unusual pit stop for coffee.
“These little normal decisions could rescue your life. If I hadn’t stopped for coffee — and I certainly not stop for coffee because it’s $4 — I could have been in that building,” Barajas said. “It’s creepy. I don’t even want to think about it.”
A man dressing dark clothes and a ski mask started fire with an attack rifle Tuesday inside a University of Texas library, then destructively bullet himself. Police were hunting for a possible second suspect.
UT shooting in library
Today’s unfortunate UT shooting, in which a UT gunman took an automatic rifle to the University of Texas library and set free several rounds before shooting himself, carries eerie echoes of the 1966 shooting spree conveyed out by Charles Whitman, a student at the university who started a fire from the UT Austin campus’s famed tower, killing 14 people and injuring 32 others before he himself was killed by an Austin police officer.The 50,000-student campus – Campus police force spokesperson Rhonda Weldon said a man fired an automatic weapon on the 6th flooring of the Perry-Castaneda Library then shot himself dead. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the gunman fired an AK-47. Acevedo discovered a news conference that police are inquiring into what he described as a second crime scene front the library where shots also were fired.
Texas campus police chief Robert Dahlstrom expressed the suspect dressed dark clothes and a ski mask. Randall Wilhite, a addition law professor at the university, said he was driven to class when he saw “students start scrambling behind wastebaskets, trees and monuments,” and then a young man bearing an assault rifle running along the street.
“He was sprinting right in front of me … and he shot what I thought were three more shots … not at me. In my direction, but not at me, clearly not at me,” Wilhite said.
The professor expressed the gunman had the chance to shoot several students and Wilhite, but he did not.
Police were scouting nearby buildings with bomb-sniffing dogs to hunt for the possible second suspect and make sure no chemical compound had been left behind.
“What we’re doing right now is being methodical about eliminate the second suspect,” Acevedo said.
No shots were fired by law enforcement, Acevedo said.
The university canceled classes for the day. Police and university agent locked down the campus for several hours and early afternoon began to enable students to leave.
In an e-mail attentive to students and staff, the university said police were seeking for the possible second shooter.
Weldon said there was no story that the possible second suspect may have been equipped, but that police are capturing all safeguards and protection the campus locked down.
Law enforcement from campus police, Austin’s police and the state Department of Public Security hurried onto campus at the first articles of the shooting. Tank-like armor-plated vehicles were placed near the library. A DPS helicopter surrounded the campus overhead.
Jennifer Scalora, who workings in admissions, was in her office about 100 yards from the library. She said the campus — one of the largest in the country — was now senseless except for police, SWAT teams and helicopters.
“Campus is very silent. You can hardly see anyone moving,” Scalora said.
“The students did their part. They clarified the streets. They cleared the grounds in a very fast method” Acevedo said.
Tuesday’s shooting is not the first to the school.
On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman went to the 28th floor notice deck at the UT clock tower in the center point of campus and started shooting at people below. He murdered 16 people and injured nearly three dozens before police killed him about 90 minutes after the siege began.
The Perry-Castaneda Library is one of the several on the campus and is one of the busiest university student libraries.
Student Joshua Barajas, 23, said he normally is in the library in the mornings but was delayed Tuesday when he made a unusual pit stop for coffee.
“These little normal decisions could rescue your life. If I hadn’t stopped for coffee — and I certainly not stop for coffee because it’s $4 — I could have been in that building,” Barajas said. “It’s creepy. I don’t even want to think about it.”
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