Tower Page #5

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- Tom!

[crying]

Tom!

- I've never been more scared.

- [laughing]

I've never been more scared.

And we ran 'em off.

We ran her into safety

to behind the hedge

and set her down.

And other people took her

where the ambulances were.

[gunshot]

There's a...

There's a cold spot

that I can feel

on my back right now.

And when I think about it,

it's about the size of a grape.

It's all the w--

Halfway up my spine.

It's halfway

between my shoulder blades.

And it's the place

I expected

the bullet to come in...

If I was hit.

As I went down the stairs,

the glasses slowly--

I was sweating like a pig.

The glasses slowly

came off my face.

Everything was turning

into a complete blur for me

without those glasses

and I couldn't see a thing.

I had to go back out,

out from cover again,

to pick up my glasses.

Her boyfriend...

He was--He was also

carried off.

- One of those who

was out of breath now after

running out onto the mall

rescuing those who'd been shot

is Brehan Ellison of Austin,

who's been in Vietnam

and has been back

for two years.

Brehan, how many have you

gone out to rescue?

- Today, two.

- What did you have to do?

- Run hard and keep low.

- Did you have any trouble

getting them up

or did any shots come close

to you while you were out there?

- No shots came close to me.

Just the last one, he was dead.

He was dead weight.

He was a little hard to pick up.

Too limp, not like someone

who's knocked out.

- How many have you seen

that are dead today?

- Just one.

I hope not any more.

[gunshots]

- I knew what I had to do.

Knowing I had to walk up those

stairs was a lonely feeling.

- Where you going?

- Up.

- I'm going with you.

- When we reached

the first landing

I could see the face

of a young boy.

- Good Lord.

- His eyes were open

and he was dead.

I quickly turned around

the corner

and I saw a young woman,

a dead young woman,

lying at his feet.

And there was another woman

lying there,

and we...we turned her

on her side

to keep her from drowning

in her own blood.

There was a young man

that was wounded.

Slumped against the wall,

still conscious.

- The boy that was at

the foot of the stairs saw us.

And Martinez and I asked him

how many people

were shooting.

[clears throat]

And he replied, "One."

- He said, "He's outside."

[gunshot]

And he pointed upstairs.

[gunshots]

- So we playing for keeps?

- Damn right we are.

- I guess you better

deputize me, then.

- I looked at him and...

I thought he was an officer

from some other agency.

Consider yourself deputized.

All right, ready?

- I'll cover you.

We worked our way

into the room...

And found a woman lying

on her back behind the sofa.

- Gotta keep going.

[gunshots]

The shooting outside sounded

just like rolling thunder.

[gunshots]

You got me?

- I got you.

Martinez went to the door

and he had trouble

getting the door open.

- Well, time's passing,

but...

You don't feel like

time's passing.

Do you understand that?

[gunshots]

- Let's go.

You need to cover that corner.

If anyone comes around there,

you shoot 'em.

[gunshots]

[gentle piano music]

[Debussy's "Clair de Lune"]

- I'm going to cover

this corner.

Your fellow officer

went down this way.

- Crum said,

"Are you going to go out

and help

your fellow officer?"

Guess I--Guess I ain't

got much choice now, do I?

- I turned and saw an officer

I knew, Houston McCoy.

All I had was my .38,

so that--that shotgun

looked pretty beautiful

at that moment.

Get down.

[gunshot]

- The other two officers

went this way.

I'll cover you.

- Got it.

- A picture came to my mind.

My boys and my wife.

And immediately

it went out of my mind.

I didn't have a fear

of being killed,

I really didn't.

- There was no time

to think about fear.

Now, I'd be a fool

or I'd be a liar

if I were to say

I was not scared.

I was scared.

But you put that behind you.

You cannot have fear in front

of you and do your job.

- I just knew

that I wasn't going to allow

anybody to make me dead.

- I heard the subject

running on the walkway.

I fired one round

in an attempt to stop him.

- What the hell?

- I'm sorry!

I heard him run

the other direction.

- It's going to take longer

to tell you

than it did to do it.

- I emptied my gun.

- There was some firing,

and then it was all over.

[gunshots]

- By the time

I had emptied my pistol...

- By the time

I had emptied my pistol...

- McCoy fired.

- McCoy was pretty close--

I grabbed that shotgun

from McCoy and I shot him

one more time

as he was hitting the ground.

After that was done,

my knees felt like rubber.

I felt like I had been hit

by a sledgehammer.

I mean all my energy left me.

And I was shaking. Rounds,

bullets were still coming up.

And I said I had enough

and I left.

- The campus,

for all practical purposes,

has been cleared.

Police got to the Tower,

and are keeping

all the persons

in the University Tower,

and the main police

are coming out

and walking across the campus.

The University area

has been cordoned off.

- I waved my handkerchief

to stop the firing

from down on the ground.

[gunshots continue]

- Once that flag waved,

I knew it was over then.

It was bam-bam-bam-bam.

It was just...

'Cause we had--

You had dozens of gunmen

firing at the Tower

from all directions.

And they slowly stopped.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

we have this word

just into the newsroom.

The sniper has been seen

waving a white flag

on the west side

of the building.

According to reports

just into our newsroom,

the sniper has been seen

waving a white flag

on the west side

of the building.

This is Neal Spelce

with a bulletin

from the KTBC Radio newsroom.

The sniper is dead.

This is Neal Spelce

with a bulletin

from the KTBC Radio newsroom.

The sniper is dead.

The firing has now stopped,

and the time is 1:23.

[radio shuts off]

When I said, "The sniper

is dead," it was like...

- It was like a big...

[exhales]

Sigh of relief.

The sirens all of a sudden

started getting silent.

The bullets stopped.

And it was quiet.

- Someone waved a flag.

And...I walked around.

There was blood everywhere.

People just surged

out of the building.

- We all walked up the steps.

It seems like

we filled the mall.

- It was a few people at first,

and then dozens,

and then hundreds.

- I don't remember anyone

being articulate

about what had happened.

You know,

just shock and awe.

Kind of a blankness.

- They looked like

they were mesmerized.

They-they weren't

hugging each other.

They weren't talking

to each other.

Most of them were

just kind of milling,

walking around,

as if dazed and wondering,

"What in the world

has happened to my world?"

[camera clicking]

- They didn't know the names

of the people who had died.

And we didn't know

what had happened

until later that day.

It was a sad time,

a very sad time.

Not only for the people

who lost

or were losing

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