Houston McCoy

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Houston McCoy
Born January 28, 1940
Menard, Texas
Died December 27, 2012 (aged 72)[1]
Menard, Texas
Nationality USA
Occupation Police officer, flight instructor, park ranger
Known for killed a deadly mass murderer

Houston McCoy was a police officer in Austin Texas who shot Charles Whitman Jr., a man who had just killed 18 innocent people.

Scholars would later identify McCoy as one of the first police officers to describe shooting someone who seemed to want to die - a phenomenon now known as suicide by cop.[2]

Serial killers and spree killers were not a recognized threat in 1966, when the shooting occurred, and Austin police lacked both the training and equipment to respond.[2] Scholars who documented the creation of SWAT teams have written about McCoy and Ray Martinez's lack of training and equipment as one of the triggers for the creation of SWAT teams.

Scholars have also identified McCoy as one of the earliest diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Early life

Death

McCoy suffered from debilitating lung disease for years prior to his death, on December 26, 2012.[3] His death triggered renewed reporting on the shooting, and discussion as to the relative responsibility he and Sergeant Martinez held in the death of Whitman. Up until 1970 Martinez was widely credited with Whitman's death.[4][5][6][7] However autopsy results said Whitman died of wounds to his heart and head, and it was recognized that it had been one of McCoy's shotgun blasts that hit Whitman in the face.[8][9]

McCoy had been generally reticent about accepting praise for his role, saying in a 2011 interview that, he did not want to be defined by that single day.

Daughter Monika joins the Austin Police Department

In 2013, McCoy's daughter Monika McCoy, joined the Austin Police Department.[10][11] She was 42, and her children were adults, when she joined the force. She says that, even in Kindergarten, pictures of her father, in uniform, inspired her to become a police officer.[12]

On the fiftieth anniversary of the shooting his daughter Monika was sought out for comments on her late father's role.[13][4][14][1] That reporting noted that the Tower is visible from her beat, the West Campus neighborhood.[12]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Michael S. Rosenwald (2016-08-01). "‘He was looking straight at me’: The brave officer who helped stop Charles Whitman". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2020-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206190631/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/08/01/he-was-looking-straight-at-me-the-brave-officer-who-blew-away-charles-whitman/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "It was 2008. McCoy, one of the Austin police officers who killed University of Texas Tower sniper Charles Whitman on Aug. 1 1966, was being interviewed on video by Mary Ellen O’Toole, an FBI agent who specialized in school shootings." 
  2. 2.0 2.1 James J. Seebock (December 2018). "Responding to high-rise active shooters". Naval Postgraduate School: p. 16, 17. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224040904/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1069735.pdf. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Analysis of the University of Texas attack highlights the need for more effective communication technologies for American policing. The incident further establishes a need to meet or overpower the abilities and weaponry used by nefarious actors." 
  3. Ricardo Gandara (2012-12-27). "Houston McCoy, police officer who shot UT Tower sniper Charles Whitman, dies". Austin-American Statesman. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224025626/https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2012/12/27/houston-mccoy-police-officer-who/6700022007/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "It’s generally accepted that it was McCoy’s shotgun blast that felled Whitman. But Martinez shot him, too, and initially got the credit until about 1970, when then-Police Chief Bob Miles first began to publicly talk about McCoy’s role in stopping Whitman." 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Molly Hennessy-Fiske (2016-05-22). "Fifty years after the first campus massacre, a question lingers: Who killed the killer?". Los Angeles Times (Austin, Texas). Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195616/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-tower-20160522-snap-story.html. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "It was the designation of “Ramiro Martinez Day” in 2006 that finally persuaded Houston McCoy to tell his side of the story. By then he was in a nursing home with lung disease." 
  5. David Montgomery (2016-07-31). "Texas Marks ’66 Sniper Attack as University Prepares for ‘Campus-Carry’ Law". The New York Times (Austin, Texas): p. A16. Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20160731054207/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/us/university-of-texas-marks-sniper-attack-with-memorial-and-new-gun-law.html. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "A fellow officer, Houston McCoy, followed with a 12-gauge shotgun. Mr. Martinez recalled that he ran toward Mr. Whitman as the sniper stood at the northwest corner of the tower, firing his service revolver repeatedly as he went. Officer McCoy, who is now deceased, also fired with his shotgun. After emptying his revolver, Mr. Martinez reached back to grab Officer McCoy’s shotgun, firing another blast." 
  6. Francisco Vara-Orta (2006-08-01). "History forgot Whitman's other shooter". Austin-American Statesman. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224035301/https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/09/03/history-forgot-whitmans-other-shooter/10142873007/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Newspapers reported that Martinez cried, 'I got him! I got him!' as he came out of the tower. McCoy remained tight-lipped during news conferences afterward and has granted only a handful of interviews. McCoy and Martinez were awarded the Austin Police Department's Medal of Valor. It wasn't until 1974 that former Austin Police Chief Bob Miles said publicly that McCoy killed Whitman." 
  7. "Killer of UT Tower sniper leaving law enforcement". Austin-American Statesman. 2016-09-03. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224043713/https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/09/03/killer-of-ut-tower-sniper-leaving-law-enforcement/10024108007/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Martinez was an Austin police officer when he made his way to the top of the UT Tower and led the assault that ended with the death of Whitman, a UT student who killed 16 people and wounded 31 as he fired from his perch above the campus." 
  8. Matt Levin (2016-05-23). "50 years later, debate remains over who killed UT shooter Charles Whitman". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2021-04-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20210420004416/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/50-Charles-Whitman-debate-Austin-sniper-killed-UT-7940750.php. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "The Los Angeles Times investigated the five decade standoff between the two police officers. Ramiro Martinez, a 29-year-old sergeant at the time of the shooting, has been celebrated as the hero of the day. Houston McCoy, a then-26-year-old patrolman, was also there and his daughter says McCoy put a halt to the killing." 
  9. Chester Rosson (September 2001). "The Cops Who Stopped Charles Whitman". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on 2021-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016064631/https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-cops-who-stopped-charles-whitman/. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "The press initially credited Martinez with taking Whitman down, but after the coroner’s report was issued, it seemed likely that McCoy’s shotgun rather than Martinez’s pistol had inflicted the mortal wounds." 
  10. Carol Christian (2013-12-13). "Daughter of cop who shot UT tower sniper to join Austin police". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2021-11-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20211101200555/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Daughter-of-cop-who-shot-UT-tower-sniper-to-join-5062650.php. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "She spent 10 years in the U.S. Army and then worked as an accountant." 
  11. "UT Tower sniper hero’s daughter joins police force". KHOU (Austin, Texas). 2013-12-14. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224015722/https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/ut-tower-sniper-heros-daughter-joins-police-force/285-320622131. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Monika McCoy was one of 33 cadets to receive their badges on Friday. Her father didn t live to see the day, having died a year ago at age 73. But Monika McCoy says she s sure that he and her mother are proud of her from beyond." 
  12. 12.0 12.1 Jazleen Shokar (2016-08-01). "Officer who shot sniper remembered by daughter as a family man". The Daily Texan. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224021032/https://thedailytexan.com/2016/08/01/officer-who-shot-sniper-remembered-by-daughter-as-a-family-man/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Monika McCoy, now an APD officer herself, said that around the 40th anniversary when a lot of the police officers, victims and their family members were reunited, her father started talking about the Tower shooting more and she began to understand his role and the impact it had on him." 
  13. Greg Flakus (2016-08-04). "Daughter of Policeman Who Helped End Texas Rampage Now Patrols Same Beat". Voice of America (Austin, Texas). Archived from the original on 2017-05-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20170526001755/https://www.voanews.com/a/daughter-policeman-end-texas-mass-shooting-patrols-same-beat/3448005.html. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Putting themselves at great risk, the elder McCoy, using a shotgun, and fellow officer Ramiro Martinez, using a handgun, located Whitman in the northwest corner of the tower's observation deck and shot him dead." 
  14. Michael S. Rosenwald (2016-07-31). "The loaded legacy of the UT Tower shooting". Washington Post (Austin, Texas). Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20210307202231/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2016/07/31/the-loaded-legacy-of-the-ut-tower-shooting/. Retrieved 2022-02-23. "Houston McCoy, one of the first officers to respond, quickly realized police were outgunned. In a letter nearly 20 years later, McCoy described his attempts to assemble a counterattack."