Trivia

He was an accomplished pianist by the age of twelve.

At the age of six, he was found to have an IQ of 139.

He is portrayed by Kurt Russell in The Deadly Tower (1975).

A former Marine sniper, Whitman went to the top of a bell tower at the University of Texas-Austin campus and, with a high-powered rifle, shot and killed 14 people and injured dozens more on August 1, 1966. He began his killing spree at 11:50 a.m. and it ended at 1:24 p.m., when his position was stormed by Austin police officers Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez, who shot him dead.

During the autopsy it was discovered that he had a brain tumor which may have caused the bizarre behavior of August 1, 1966.

Immortalized in the song "The Ballad of Charles Whitman" by Kinky Friedman.

Subject of the biography "A Sniper in the Tower" by Gary Lavergne.

Joined the Boy Scouts as a child and was the youngest person in history to ever achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Grew up in an abusive home where his father would punish any failure to meet his extremely high standards, in academia or any other category, with physical discipline in addition to emotional abuse.

Attended the University of Texas but was forced to end his studies and finish his enlistment with the Marines when They found his grades insufficient to allow him to continue.

Contrary to popular belief, Whitman's massacre was not a spontaneous choice nor was it the result of a sudden violent breakdown. He had been having intensely painful headaches and violent episodes for months before his shooting and had attempted to seek medical treatment for what was later found out to be a brain tumor which would have been at least partially responsible for his actions.