The Whitman brothers regularly attended Mass with their mother, and all three brothers served as altar boys at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lake Worth. Margaret was a devout Roman Catholic who raised her sons in the same denomination. Whitman's academic achievements were encouraged by his parents, and any indication of failure or a lethargic attitude were met with discipline-often physical-from his father. He was extremely intelligent-an examination at the age of six revealed his IQ to be 139. early 1944Īs a boy, Whitman was described as a polite child who seldom lost his temper. He was known to be physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife and children. The marriage of Whitman's parents was marred by domestic violence Whitman's father was an admitted authoritarian who provided for his family but demanded near perfection from all of them. His wife, Margaret, was 17 years old at the time they wed. Whitman's father was raised in an orphanage in Savannah, Georgia, and described himself as a self-made man. ( née Hodges) and Charles Adolphus Whitman Jr. Early life and education Ĭharles Whitman was born on June 24, 1941, in Lake Worth, Florida, the eldest of three sons born to Margaret E. Whitman killed a total of sixteen people the 16th victim died 35 years later from injuries sustained in the attack. There, he fired at random people for 96 minutes, killing an additional eleven people and wounding 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police officers. He fatally shot three people inside UT Austin's Main Building, then accessed the 28th-floor observation deck on the building's clock tower. On August 1, 1966, Whitman used knives to kill his mother and his wife in their respective homes, then went to the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) with multiple firearms and began indiscriminately shooting at people. Sears model 60 semi-automatic shotgun ( 12 gauge)Ĭharles Joseph Whitman (J– August 1, 1966) was an American mass murderer who became known as the ' Texas Tower Sniper'.17 (including an unborn child and a victim who died from complications in 2001)

Charles whitman childhood