You may have heard of the Texas Tower shooting, as for almost two decades it stood as the worst mass shooting in US history.
On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman made his way to the top of the University of Texas Tower, in Austin, equipped with a bag full of guns and ammo.
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While there he bludgeoned a receptionist to death with his rifle and shot two families who made their way to the observation deck, unbeknown to them that he was preparing to unleash hell on the campus.
The former marine then began unloading at residents below, hitting a pregnant woman and her partner who tried to help her, dozens of other pedestrians as well as a paramedic who attended in an ambulance.
The 25-year-old killed 15 people and injured 31 more during the shooting before he was shot dead by a police officer.
However, before that tragic event, Whitman had already murdered two people close to him.
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He left a note saying: "It was after much thought that I decided to kill my wife, Kathy, tonight … I love her dearly, and she has been as fine a wife to me as any man could ever hope to have. I cannot rationally pinpoint any specific reason for doing this."
Whitman also wrote: "I don’t want her to have to face the embarrassment my actions would surely cause her. I truly do not consider this world worth living in, and am prepared to die, and I do not want to leave her to suffer alone in it… Similar reasons provoked me to take my mother’s life."
He had already murdered his wife and his mom in the early hours of the same morning but his actions allegedly came completely out of the blue - something he noticed himself.
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An autopsy was carried out that confirmed Whitman's belief that something strange was going on with his brain.
The coroner made a shocking discovery that he had a tumor, around the size of a pecan, in his brain.
It was pressed up against his amygdala, which is the part of the brain that helps configure our emotions - especially fear and aggression - meaning this new aggressive behavior he was exhibiting could likely have occurred as a result of the growth.
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In fact, the autopsy was actually something he had requested.
Prior to the shooting, Whitman wrote: "I don’t really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I can’t recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.
"After one session I never saw the Doctor again, and since then I have been fighting my mental turmoil alone, and seemingly to no avail."
He added: "After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed on me to see if there is any visible physical disorder."
Topics: Gun Crime, History, True crime, Crime, Health, Texas
Joe Yates