University of Texas Tower Shooting Memorial
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Interfectum August 1, 1966 Thomas Aquinas Ashton Dr. Robert H. Boyer Thomas Frederick Eckman Mark Jerome Gabour Karen Joan Griffith David H Gunby Thomas Ray Karr Marguerite Gabour Lamport Claudia Rutt Roy Dell Schmidt Paul Bolton Sonntag Officer Billy Paul Speed Edna Elizabeth Rose Townsley Harry Walchuk Kathleen Leissner Whitman Margaret Hodges Whitman Baby Boy Wilson
Erected by The University of Texas at Austin
The Story
This memorial names those killed on August 1, 1966, when a gunman opened fire from the tower at the University of Texas at Austin, one of the first mass shootings on an American campus. Erected in 2016 on the fiftieth anniversary, the marker lists each victim, from students and faculty to a police officer, restoring their names to the place. The Latin "Interfectum" — "the slain" — frames a day that left a lasting mark on the nation.
Why it matters
The 1966 tower shooting became a grim landmark in American history, shaping decades of debate over public safety and campus security.
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Related events
- · University of Texas at Austin tower shooting (August 1, 1966)
Themes & tags
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