On this day in 1966,Charles Whitman took a stockpile of
guns and ammunition to the observatory platform atop
a 300-foot tower at the University of Texas and proceeded
to shoot 46 people, killing 14 people and wounding 32.

Whitman, who had killed both his wife and mother the
night before, was eventually shot to death after courageous
Austin police officers, including Ramiro Martinez, charged
up the stairs of the tower to subdue the attacker.

Ramiro "Ray" Martinez turned 86 in January.

Charles Joseph Whitman
(June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966)