Gunman Kills at Least a Dozen People – Armed Citizens Help Stop Him

A gunman wielding an array of rifles and shotguns shot and killed at least a dozen people in Texas on Monday, including an unborn baby, four 18 year old college students and the first police officer on the scene. One of the victims was killed at a distance of nearly half a kilometer. Over 30 people were wounded, many dragged to safety behind cover provided by an armored car donated to the Austin Police Department by a local security company. As the gunfire continued, a local man few armed citizens with rifles (reportedly including a graduate student with an M1 carbine and two fraternity brothers with deer rifles) began attempting to suppress the gunman — responding APD, Travis County Sheriffs deputies and Texas DPS troopers being unable to adequately respond with their services pistols and shotguns.

Take note of that: responding law enforcement officers were assisted by armed citizens, who were later credited with saving many lives.

“Find a student with a high-powered scoped rifle in his apartment a few blocks away, drive him to get it, drive to a nearby hardware store and procure some ammunition for the rifle and drive to a building just south of the tower and mall…He asks what if he should get a beed [sic] on one of the snipers,” McCoy wrote, “and I tell him to shoot the [expletive] out of him.” Officer H. McCoy, Austin PD, describing his actions during the shooting.

Approximately an hour and a half after the shooting began, three police officers and one (now deputized) armed citizen confronted the gunman and killed him, ending the carnage.

Gunman Kills at Least a Dozen People in Texas

Take five minutes to watch this.

The gunman was Charles Whitman. This past Monday, August 1st, 2016 was the 50th anniversary of the University of Texas tower murders. It was also the day Texas became the eight state in the country that allows college students to bring guns onto college campuses.

Are students in your area allowed to exercise their Second Amendment right?

Read about the events of that day in detail here on the Austin-American Statesman.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, or would like to read a reminder, check out this piece from the Washington Post.

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