Recall the University of Texas, the site of the horrific mass shooting on August 1, 1968 when Charles Whitman went to the 28th floor observation deck of the clock tower and began shooting at people below. He killed 16 people and wounded three dozen before police killed Whitman about 90 minutes after the siege began. A recent tragedy occured on this site when 19-year-old Colton Tooley began shooting an assault rifle near the clock tower. Wearing a dark suit and ski mask he walked several blocks to the library, he fired three shots toward a campus church, then changed direction and fired three more times into the air. He had the opportunity to shoot several people, but he did not. It is believed Colton ran into the library as officers closed in on him, then went up to the 6th floor and shot himself in the head. Police declined to speculate on his motive. The University’s crisis-management plan and social networking quickly warned students, faculty and staff. Their text messaging system reached more than 43,000 people and the school was immediately put on lock-down.
