Have there been any case studies done on Charles Whitman &/or Jimmy Essex?

[Glamdring]

I am considering doing a research project on shooting events were the criminals involved seemed to have above average (for goblins) tactics (i.e. Dade County), shooting skills (i.e.Whitman), or equipment (i.e. '97 Hollywood bank robbery).

I know there is a lot of information about Dade County and Hollywood, but haven't yet found much detail about Whitman or Essex.

At this point I am thinking about two separate but related reports or journal articles.

The first one would focus on the elements important to Officer survival and SWAT. Not positive yet but think something like very short FM style document could be useful for the operators.

The other would be targeted at administrators, politicians, and such. With the intent of gaining support from the people that control budget.

Or is there something like that already?

Feel free to PM or email me.

 

[Art Eatman]

Whitman's escapade was in August, 1966. The Austin PD had service revolvers and some Winchester self-loaders. Nothing with any range. Never had been any prior occasion for any planning or training to deal with such an event.

Citizens using deer rifles caused Whitman to cease firing, first from over the parapet walls and then from the drains at the base of the walls.

A WW II vet took command of two APD officers, leading the effort to get through the office doorways to the observation deck where Whitman was located. He instructed them on urban combat procedures, and they then safely got to the outer deck, followed along the building wall, espied Whitman and shot him.

"There was a rumor of a tumor", as Kinky Friedman sang, but nobody ever really determined the cause of his killing spree.

Art

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm just glad 99.9% of the bad guys learned about firearms from Sillywood and "Gangsta" music. If I've got to have some yahoo shoot at me, then I'll take the yahoo who's never been to the range a day in his life and thinks holding his pistol sideways is a good stance. One crazy guy with a rifle who knows how to use it can cause an astonishing amount of carnage. If it hadn't been for the citizens who stopped Whitman, the death count would have been even higher. I think the lesson to be learned for law enforcement is to do what the Duke did--carry a long gun!

Most bad guys and cops alike simply have no idea how much more effective and accurate long guns are than their short cousins. I'm always encouraged when the cops figure this out and start at least keeping carbines in the squad car, but it doesn't happen nearly enough. Even the most skilled handgunner can control at most a 25 yard radius, and that's pretty iffy. An officer with a .30/30 can keep near-total control over a 100 yard radius. Add a few more cops and the control becomes complete. With an AR-15 the radius goes out to 300 yards. With a sniper rifle it can reach half a mile. How many times have cops had to let armed, dangerous suspects run off rather than risk a miss? With a long gun, there's no need to fear. If you can see him, you can drop him. The biggest obstacle isn't budgetary (most rifles are actually less expensive than handguns), it's cultural. Americans believe handguns are more powerful and accurate than they actually are, and at the same time we have an unreasoning fear of authority figures carrying long guns. As if it's somehow safer to arm them with inaccurate pea shooters that require high-cap mags and special ammo to get the job done! But I digress.

 

[Art Eatman]

Cosmoline, based on comments in the Austin paper, post-Whitman, he certainly contributed to the efforts to create what we now call SWAT teams and police snipers.

The lessons NOT learned had to do with gun-control laws; nothing passed since that date had anything whatsoever to do with obviating the possibility of another Whitman Day. E.g., he was a scoutmaster, an ex-Marine, and a B/C grades student at UT. He would pass the NICS in a heartbeat. His guns would have been legally acquired in today's world.

He used a hacksaw to make a sawn-off-shotgun pistol, and did his first two murders (wife and mother) with a hunting knife.

Art