The Story Of Charles Whitman And The USiper Shootings

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In the face of war and terror, we often forget about the possibility of terror at home until it shoots us right in the face. Less than a week ago 31 innocent students, teachers, and faculty were shot at Virginia Tech University. The question we all want answers to is why. What makes someone so angry that they are able to viscously kill innocent people. It is essential that when trying to understand the present to look to the past for more understanding. The media is overwhelmed with stories of the Virginia Tech murders and even a couple illusions of past tragedies like the UT sniper shooting. For Austin residents and alumni of the University of Texas it is a similar scene of terror, shock, and the question why. With the UT sniper shooting 40 years behind us, it is easier to look back and review the events of that day and what may have lead a former defender of our country to take 16 young innocent lives so viscously.

Many will revert to stories of Charles (or Charlie) Whitman’s upbringing to provide reasoning for his horrific crime. Charlie was the son a prominent plumber, who had taken virtually nothing and made it into a well off way of living. Financial security became of great pride to Charlie’s father, along with his marriage to his mother. Charlie was the oldest of three brothers and was seemingly punished for being so. His father was a strict man who believed in and used corporal punishment. The relationship between his parents was just as turbulent. Despite the harsh treatment the family received, many would describe the Whitman children as “spoiled rotten.” Whitman’s father was generous with material possessions for his children; possibly because of the lack of material possessions he possessed as a child. People who kn...

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...e next hours planning what he would do next. He packed supplies to hold off an army. The Austin police department listed an array of supplies that included the following:
Channel Master 14 Transistor AM-FM Radio (portable) with brown case

Works Cited

A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders
Book by Gary M. Lavergne; University of North Texas Press, 1997.
Mass Murder: America's Growing Menace
Book by James Alan Fox, Jack Levin; Plenum Press, 1985.
Violence and Aggression: A Physiological Perspective
Book by K. E. Moyer; Paragon Press, 1987
The "New Syndrome Excuse Syndrome
Journal article by Stephen J. Morse; Criminal Justice Ethics, Vol. 14, 1995
Bloody Murderers
Magazine article by Eugene H. Methvin; National Review, Vol. 48, June 3, 1996. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/whitman/index_1.html http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/police/

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