Gunman at University of Texas Austin Takes Own Life, Lockdown Lifted
Eyewitness: Gunman Was Wearing Ski Mask and Carrying Assault Rifle.
A gunman wearing a ski mask and brandishing a rifle entered a library at the University of Texas at Austin today and fired several shots before taking his own life, sparking a campus-wide lockdown and fears that a second shooter may be on the loose.
Just before noon Central Time, a campus lockdown in effect since around 8 a.m. was lifted, ending a search for a possible second suspect.
"The armed suspect is dead. No other injuries have been reported," UT President Bill Powers wrote in a campus email.
The shooter was found dead on the sixth floor of the library from apparently self inflicted wounds, police said.
An email and text alert was sent to students and faculty around 8 a.m., just as the day's first classes were beginning, warning that an "armed subject was reported last seen at Perry Castaneda Library" and telling students to remain in place.
"I was walking to class, a little late," senior Robby Reeb told ABCNews.com. "I was walking from the business school, and a guy sprinted past me screaming, 'There's a guy with a gun.' I looked up and saw a man in a ski mask, wearing a suit, and carrying an assault rifle. And I called 911."
Reeb said he was outside between two buildings and had to choose which one to enter to avoid the shooter.
Students reported hearing bursts of gunfire. Police confirmed the gunman was carrying an AK-47, a military-grade combat rifle. Authorities said there were currently two crimes scenes: the library where the gunman was found dead, and an area outside where he fired shots into the air.
At a press conference police said they had not yet identified the dead shooter or determined a motive. Police later said the gunman was likely a student, but would not yet identify him.
Buildings near the library were placed on immediate lockdown, while some classes on the opposite side of campus were dismissed, said Miriam Smith, 22, a senior at the school.
"I had an 8 a.m. class this morning and a student checked Twitter and said that there's a shooter on campus," Smith said.
The area around the library was sealed off with yellow police tape. Heavily armed SWAT vehicles and officers carrying automatic weapons patroled the campus and bomb sniffing dogs were brought in to determine if explosives were left behind, police said.
Police said they received reports of gumen fitting two different descriptions. They said they would work all leads and clear every building to determine there was no second shoot.
Police Chief Art Acevedo told a local radio station that "we have a reports of a second suspect that was wearing a beanie with a long rifle, wearing blue jeans and a black top that we're looking for that may or may not be a white male."
Search at Texas University for Possible Second Gunman
"We're conducting building searches. We need to clear every building in the immediate area. You can imagine that's going to take a little while," Acevdo told Mix 94.7. "We still are looking for a second suspect, hopefully we'll be able to get, if he even exists."
Once police confirmed the shooter had taken his own life, students were still cautioned stay in place and not return to campus: "If you are off campus, STAY AWAY. If you are on campus, lock doors, do not leave your building."
The university was the site of one of America's most infamous campus shootings when Charles Joseph Whitman, a student and former marine, killed 14 people and injured 32 others in 1966. Whitman climbed 29 floors to the observation deck of the school's iconic tower and began picking people off with a rifle. He was eventually shot by police. This was the second deadliest school shooting in the United States behind the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007.
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