Shooting at UT Austin: Law Professor Shot At But Unharmed

Breaking this morning, there’s been a shooting at the Perry-Castaneda Library on the University of Texas – Austin campus. The Houston Chronicle reports:

A man opened fire with an automatic weapon on the sixth floor of the Perry-Castaneda Library early Tuesday, UT police spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.

“He subsequently shot himself. He is deceased,” she said, adding that no one else was injured.

Police and university officials urged students to stay indoors.

“A suspected shooter in PCL library is dead. Police are searching for possible second shooter. Lock doors, do not leave your building,” the alert said.

Based on reports we’ve received from students at the UT Law School, the potential second shooter might still be at large…

WE HAVE POSTED VARIOUS UPDATES BELOW.

Students at UT Law report that Professor Randall Wilhite’s morning class was canceled after the professor reported that he had been shot at on his way to work.

i can just tell you that he came into class, said he was driving to campus, saw the shooter in a suit and a ski mask, and the shooter shot at his car he cancelled class

Sponsored

We don’t know if this was the same man who would later open fire in the library, or the second gunman the police are still searching for.

Obviously, Professor Wilhite was unavailable for immediate comment. But students in his class report that he was unharmed.

UPDATE: Professor Wilhite gave a statement to the Austin American Statesman:

“He ran right in front of my car, fired two or three shots south sort of generally in my direction but not at me,” Wilhite said. “They seemed to hit to my left sort of in the median. It didn’t look like he was targeting individuals. He was just sort of shooting into the ground.

“He was about 10 feet in front of me. I was very vulnerable had he wanted to shoot at me.”

Please stay safe, Texas students. Stay inside, lock the doors, and please listen to the police.

Sponsored

UPDATE: The Austin American Statesman is now reporting that, ironically, John Lott — author of More Guns, Less Crime — planned to speak in front of the Federalist Society today.

UPDATE: Another account from a UT Law student:

I was in the car on the way to campus when I got the text message from the university telling us to stay away. The campus is on lockdown but all the reports have said that the shooter is on the other side of campus from us in the law school. The dead shooter was in the main undergrad library. However, the swat team is apparently going through campus with dogs looking for the second shooter.

UPDATE: The Daily Texan, the UT student newspaper, has pictures from today’s events.

UPDATE: CNN is now confirming that, aside from the first gunman who took his own life, nobody else was harmed. The search continues for the possible second gunman.

UPDATE: Our people on Twitter are now claiming that the second shooter is locked down in the chemistry building.

UPDATE: Still no word on the potential second shooter, but apparently the university remains on lockdown and (obviously) classes have been canceled. UTLaw’s Fed Soc is tweeting that the John Lott event has also been canceled.

UPDATE: A tipster has this little tidbit about the cancellation of the John Lott event:

After incident of the shooting was reported, unknown members flipped several signs in the law school advertising for John Lott’s talk, which was sponsored by the Federalist Society and was going to be held at 6 PM today, so they were facing backwards. It was a cutesy little sign with the famous Charlie’s Angel image of the babes brandishing guns.

UPDATE: The situation at UT appears to be under control, according to thankful messages from the University president posted on Texas Lawyer. But on Facebook, Twitter, and other places, some UT students are fuming about the Texas response time and information dissemination. There will be a lot of questions in the days and weeks ahead.

Police: Man kills self after shooting at UT Austin [Houston Chronicle]
‘I was very vulnerable,’ one witness says [Austin American Statesman]
Armed suspect fires shots, kills himself at University of Texas [CNN]