Tue 10/25 @ 7:30PM
Sadly, mass shootings have become so commonplace in the U.S. we almost have come to accept them as the “normal” cost of a lightly regulated access to guns that distorts the meaning of the Second Amendment.
But once upon a time, the first civilian mass shooting was something shocking and new. That was the day in August 1966 when Charles Whitman went up in the University of Texas Tower and began randomly picking off people below for an hour and a half. Ultimately 16 people were killed and dozens more wounded.
The documentary film Tower recreates that incident through interviews with people who were there or who were close to people involved who are now deceased, archival footage and rotoscopic animation recreating events of the day based on first-person accounts.
“The film highlights the fear, confusion and visceral realities that changed the lives of those present, and the rest of us, forever — a day when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others,” says the film’s press release.
Tower will screen at the Capitol Theatre as part of its Tuesday evening documentary series. Tickets are $9.50 for adults, $6.50 for seniors and children, $8.50 for students.