Tower Page #3

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The policeman was walking,

he shot him through

the, uh, support near

the statue of Jefferson Davis.

- The shots came near you

at the time, though?

- Oh, yes.

There were shots all around.

- A couple of students

crept out the back door

and made their way to him.

A girl had taken off her slip

and was using it to try

to stanch the bleeding,

but he was bleeding a lot.

The guy that was with her

had gotten a little tin cup

and had filled it with water.

It was just like

the cowboy movies, right?

- We, uh,

did all we could for him.

But whether he was

still conscious when

they carried him off

in the ambulance, we don't know.

Maybe it could be

a superficial wound.

[gunshot]

- Billy!

- I saw him get hit here.

So I-I thought he was gonna

be all right, you know?

- That was the moment

that separated

the brave people

from the scared people.

I knew that there was no way

that I was going to go

out there and help him.

I didn't wanna get shot.

That was a defining moment

because I realized

I was a coward.

- I met up with Billy

not a couple hours before that.

We just talked

a little while.

Just a good ol' boy

conversation.

- He was gonna quit.

He said...

He was gonna work

a couple more months

and then he was gonna quit

and go back to college.

And that's just what

he was gonna do.

And uh, you know, his wife

just had a baby and everything.

[gunshot]

- If I see someone--

- He asked me. He said...

- Do I shoot him?

- And I said...

[chuckles]

"You shoot

the sh*t out of him."

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

- Before I got into the Tower,

and this is not too nice,

I took up a position

behind a column

at the Academic Center.

[gunshot]

And I gave him

the I-talian digit.

[gunshot]

He fired once at the column

and hit it.

But he didn't do it again.

I waited until the individual

started firing

on the east side

of the Tower--

[gunshot]

And then ran across the street

into the Tower Building.

[gunshot]

[gunshots]

- You could see the bodies

lying on the campus.

On the Main Mall.

[gunshot]

And we knew then

that there was nothing

that could be done

from that office.

So we were inextricably

drawn closer.

We got up to the statue

of Jefferson Davis.

People say that that statue

should be taken down,

that that statue

has no place being there

because of Jefferson Davis

and all he represents.

But at least on that day,

it gave me a little shelter.

Across from the Main Mall,

there was about

a dozen students

there as well,

all looking

at the bodies laying there.

And it was frustrating,

I guess.

Something has to be done,

but if I go out there?

[gunshot]

I might die.

[camera clicking]

- It was like

a frozen snapshot.

[camera clicks]

Obviously some people

were still alive

and hiding behind

small things.

A couple people

seemed really...dead.

I've never seen a dead body.

I didn't care

if they bombed the Tower.

I just wanted a plane to come

and take that guy out.

- What else did you see as you

came through the campus?

Did you see any other

injured persons?

- There's several people laying

out on the Mall at this time.

Three of them may be shot,

and the others may just

be laying there.

[gunshot]

- A woman was lying

on her back on the Mall,

and she was

obviously pregnant

and in obvious pain.

It was hard to watch her

and to know that no one

could get to her

without being shot

themselves.

- Under the base

of the Tower,

there were a lot

of people there.

And they were yelling.

They were saying,

"We've gotta help

that pregnant woman!"

And then somebody else

yelled out,

"No, we've gotta help the ones

that there is still hope for."

So I thought...

Well...

I probably wasn't

gonna get help.

- Has any effort been made

to try to get those persons out?

[gunshots]

Another shot. He's still firing

repeatedly from

the University Tower.

- I was trying to figure out

what was happening.

I didn't feel pain.

It felt more like

something really heavy

was pressing down on me.

I thought it felt like

an invasion from outer space

because I felt like

I'd been shot

by some kind

of antimatter gun.

It felt like that's

what was happening.

[radio frequencies]

That I was just...dissolving.

[frequencies intensify]

[faint footsteps]

Then at some point

a girl ran up.

- Please he...

- Are you all right?

Let me help you.

- She came up

and kind of knelt over me.

And her hair...

It was red and coming down.

[gunshots]

- Go. Go.

[gunshots]

- Get down.

- What's your name?

- It's Claire.

- Claire?

I'm Rita.

I'm here with you now, okay?

- Her name was Rita.

[gunshot]

- I tried to call

the store and my wife.

[busy signal]

[sighs]

The lines were busy.

I saw Officer Day.

He was alone.

[indistinct chatter]

I went up to him

and I offered my help to him.

- Let's go this way.

- All right.

- As it went on, I moved

forward a little bit more.

Kind of inching around,

getting a little bit

different viewpoint,

that sorta thing,

as we kept broadcasting.

[gunshots]

I think it's

kind of a natural instinct.

"Hey, I gotta get closer.

I gotta see what's going on."

We are not sure that the police

are returning the fire,

but we do hear the shots

and we do...

But I wasn't, believe me...

[gunshot]

I wasn't trying to put myself

in harm's way.

Under the clock

on the south side

of the University

of Texas Tower,

and police

are returning the fire.

[gunshot]

- I saw this airplane.

circling the tower.

It was a single-engine

small airplane.

But the drafts

of the heat and the wind,

the airplane just couldn't get

a steady shot of the sniper.

The Austin Police Department,

they didn't have weapons

that would reach

from the ground

to the top of the Tower.

[gunshot]

- It was like a war.

There were gunshots

coming from everywhere.

- At one point,

I saw a civilian

carrying a deer rifle

coming from behind me

and running toward the Tower.

- I don't know where

these vigilantes came from,

but Parlin Hall was filled

with civilians with huge guns

and they began to shoot back.

There was massive testosterone.

- This was an average citizen

who heard my report

on the radio

and decided to come help.

We didn't know it at the time,

but what was happening

was my radio broadcast...

The feeds were made

to the radio networks

and to all the other news

outlets around the country.

- At approximately 12:15,

the phones at KTBC

began to ring with requests

for phone reports

to radio stations all over

the North American proper.

Reports were recorded

for radio stations

in Anchorage, Alaska,

Halifax, Nova Scotia,

San Diego, California,

and even from Honolulu, Hawaii.

- Repeating--A sniper

with a high-powered rifle

has taken up a position

on the Tower

at the campus

at the University of Texas.

- To bring you

a special bulletin from KTBC...

- All over the United States,

radio stations were calling in

to get a report

of what's going on in Austin.

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