“I am a Class of 1968 graduate of the Business School, member of Delta Tau Delta and President of Silver Spurs (Spring, 1968). When the shooting started, I was in a class on campus, (American Government, I think) in one of the older buildings, directly (west) across the street from Gregory Gym. Wish I could remember the name of the old building.
My classroom had large windows, with a view of the Tower, and there was construction going on in the building. Being summer and hot, the windows were also open.
The first shots sounded like construction noise (air staple gun, or gun used to anchor studs in concrete).
A few minutes passed, and a person entered our classroom and whispered something in the professor’s ear. He calmly told us to slide out of our chairs onto the floor and get away from the windows, out of view of the Tower. He told us a sniper was on the tower, randomly shooting people.
A few more minutes passed, and we were told that a closed circuit TV in a room down the hall was televising the incident. Most of our class went to the designated room and could see the Tower and occasionally signs of the shooter (Whitman). The next development I remember was seeing on the television the Austin PD officer waving a white rag/flag, signaling that the incident was over.
Several of our group rushed out of the building toward the Tower, and I remember seeing and stepping over more than one puddle of blood as we made our way to the Tower.
I did not see Charles Whitman’s body removed, but waited around for 20-30 minutes for any further developments.
I do remember seeing the bullet hole through the storefront window of Sheftall’s Jewelry. Very compelling reminder of the entire incident.”