TexasCHLforum.com

Some new details from yesterday:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/stu ... 73038.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Surveillance video released. Doesn't show much, accept that he waves "hi" at the library security guard desk as he runs by with an AK-47

The gun was a gift from his father. Can't even begin to comprehend the family's mental anguish.

Police are basically verifying what has been understood/suspected for some time now - he never fired toward anyone else (other than himself).

No motives or anything else to try to help explain why this happened (and probably never will be).

Ugh ... this doesn't sound good. Time to blame the guns for causing this young man's suicide

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content ... -policy-us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Class assignments written by Tooley and obtained by The Daily Texan show a fascination with the debate over gun control policy in the U.S.

In Fall 2009, his first semester at UT, Tooley wrote a proposal for a research paper in an introductory rhetoric course that said arguments between his parents over the issue only piqued his interest in the firearm debate.

“I’ve grown up in a household where my mother is absolutely appalled by guns, and my dad grew up with them out in rural Oklahoma and sees them as an extraordinary part of life,” Tooley wrote in the proposal.

The assignment required students to present an idea about a controversial, contemporary issue, and Tooley said he was most interested in researching public perception of gun control in the U.S. over the last 20 years, especially after the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings. Tooley said he had read several books on the subject and watched films, including Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine.”

“I have also been to a few gun shows and learned what the people behind the counters, selling AR-15’s, Kalashnikovs, Berettas, etc. have to say on the issue, both by talking to them and by reading their T-shirts,” he wrote. He said in addition to news articles, he could use material distributed by the NRA at the next gun show he attended.

Also find it interesting that John Woods, the former Virginia Tech and current UT student who's girlfriend was killed in the 2007 tragedy and is now adamantly opposed to campus carry, is spinning this latest UT shooting as a suicide and not a "shooting". (see link to his letter to editor below). I don't disagree with him at all that this was a public suicide, and not in the same classification as the Virginia Tech massacre or the 1963 UT Tower shooting. Apparently the gunman never aimed at other students, just fired randomly before killing himself. But I disagree that this fact in any way reduces the necessity of arming college students who are mature enough and old enough to qualify for CHLs. Woods is right, college can be a difficult time and students sometimes do go off the deep end. All the more reason for others on campus (students AND faculty/staff), to be armed to protect themselves against someone who has "lost it." The fact that some students may use guns to commit suicide - tragic as that is - is not reason enough to deny others on campus their RKBA rights. There are plenty of ways to kill yourself. Taking away one of those ways isn't going to stop suicides - early intervention, counseling, and the love and support of friends and family are more important and more effective.

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content ... usions-put" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

maxlib wrote:http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=7696887

Breaking news.

Good and bad here.

I'm confused, what is the "breaking news" in this link?

dicion wrote:

RPB wrote:

O6nop wrote:I'm curious about the time frame of this incident, from the time a shooter was seeing jogging along the sidewalk with a weapon until he shot himself. It's great that no one was shot and it seems it was over with pretty quickly. Also, do the campus security police have weapons?

8:10 shots fired outside in front of tower
8:15 sirens and alerts go out
8:25 school on lockdown
8:40-ish shoots himself in library on 6th floor

So what you're saying is... the police didn't make it there in 30 seconds, and shoot the guy instantly...

In fact, he had 30 minutes of free reign on the campus, and would have had more, had he not decided to off himself.
That's 30 minutes on a campus that has it's own police force, on-campus...

Wake up people. The Police are only there to clean up the mess afterwords. Very rarely do they make it there on time to stop anything like this. THIS is why we need to be able to defend ourselves in these "Safe" "Gun Free Zones"...

The time line is correct, but as I understand it the extrapolation of how much time the shooter had "free reign on the campus" is a bit off. From the latest press conference, apparently responding police officers CHASED the shooter into the library building and were in active pursuit of him when he shot himself.

The police response - UTPD, APD, Travis County Sheriff, DPS, and even Austin ISD police - was apparently extremely quick and well executed. All these agenices had apparently just rehearsed emergency response inter-agency just a few weeks ago. Apparently, according to APD chief, first officers on scene directly engaged the suspect and gave chase immediately (as opposed to setting up perimeter and waiting for SWAT - as the old pre-Columbine custom). APD Chief was lauding the response not only of police, but also the UT alert system and the students themselves for doing exactly what they needed to do - clearing the streets/grounds and going or staying inside. He said UT students were actively pointing LEOs in the "right direction, toward the shooter" and gave much praise for their help with that as well.

I'm a UH Cougar. My wife is a Texas Aggie. But if all above is true (no reason to doubt it), my hat is off to the UT Longhorn students for a job well done under the circumstances And of course all the responding LEOs ... goes without saying, but I'll say it - true heroes, no doubt.

All that said, this was a PERFECT outcome because the shooter was apparently shooting randomly in the air and at the building and may not have been aiming at/targeting students. Even with this perfect response and outcome, the shooter still had at least 5-10 minutes (guessing) of "free reign". If his intent had been to kill as many as possible, this easily could've rivaled Luby's, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, and the last UT shooting (1960s). 5-10 minutes is an ETERNITY when an active shooter is targeting victims.

Just heard tv report that possible second suspect is because the police received conflicting descriptions of shooter:
- one dressed in black with ski mask is likely the deceased
- second described man in yellow shirt and blue jeans also with a firearm of some type?

Then, of course, my cable box just went dead

Oh well, guess that's it from the AR news update desk ... need to get back to work anyway

Sounds like the search for "second suspect" is just matter of routine, some reports of second suspect but nothing definitive (just following up on all reports) but SWAT is sweeping whole area as matter of course.

Also Austin police chief just confirmed some shots WERE fired outside and the weapon was an AK-47

All 3 local Austin TV stations covering non-stop. Press conference now.

KVUE-ABC had interview with woman who said she heard FIFTEEN shots 5 - 5 - 5 sequence and saw shooter OUTSIDE library with a "large assault weapon". She turned and ran, fearing he would shoot her in back.