This Austin Shooting Schedule West Texas Witness Reacts to Campus Shooting in Austin 9/28/10
Monahans, Texas
There’s no doubt that students and faculty members were shocked when a student began firing shots this morning on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.But the shock wasn’t limited to Austin residents.
In addition to plenty of West Texas natives who attend the school, one West Texas woman on an Austin business trip, witnessed much of the commotion as well.As SWAT teams arrived on the University of Texas Campus to secure the library where a suspected gunman was stationed, Monahans resident, Cari Martinez was in a nearby campus building, and suddenly being told not to move.
"I guess at about 8:20 they told us there is a gunman on campus and that we were on lockdown", says Martinez.Martinez is in Austin with two coworkers attending classes on campus. Just 10 days removed from the standoff in West Texas, she wasn't expecting gunfire yet again.
"We just heard sirens and helicopters. I mean it was crazy. We didn't know what was going on and then they told us there was possibly another gunman so we had to stay in our room", says Martinez.
By the afternoon, the original gunman took his own life and police determined he acted alone when firing four shots on Tuesday morning.
"Anyone that is crazy enough to take a gun anywhere in public whether it be at a college campus or any kind of school, a bank or a restaurant. They're all becoming very common", says Martinez.
Martinez and her coworkers were released from their building after several hours.
They are not troubled by the inconvenience, they're just happy it all ended without more people getting hurt.
"We're all really happy that no students were injured and that it didn't go any farther than it did", says Martinez.
Tuesday’s shooting comes approximately 40 years after the 1966 shooting when a gunman standing on the campus clock tower killed 16 people.
Two West Texans who were in Austin when the 1966 shooting took place described Tuesday’s situation as “different” from the other.
