A Sniper In The Tower–The First School Shooting–Why Did He Do It?

By Robert Riggs

What You Will Learn

Before Columbine. Before Sandy Hook. Before Virginia Tech.  There was the Sniper in the Tower at the University of Texas.

America’s first mass murder and school shooting unfolded on live television in Austin, Texas, more than a half-century ago.

Since then, the question has lingered, ā€œWhy did he do it?ā€

Gary Lavergne, the author of A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders, addresses the whys and the myths about the why.

In this True Crime Reporterā„¢, Confidential investigative reporter Robert Riggs and former U.S. prosecutor Bill Johnston take listeners back to 1966 when a student cut down fifty people in 96 minutes.

We have placed links in the show notes to black-and-white film footage from the shooting and a video of Gary Lavergne following the sniper’s trail to the top of the UT Tower


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Texas Crime Stories: Blood & Betrayal, by Robert Riggs

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Riding Herd on the Lawless Ā· Vol. 1

Go inside the cases Texas will never forget.

A preacher with a deadly secret. A mother whose crime shocked a community. A death-row phone call that exposed a prison scandal. Robert Riggs takes you behind the headlines through firsthand accounts, investigations, and the pursuit of justice.

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