<p>where were you during yesterday's events? what were you doing? I was near the main mall walking (15 or so minutes late) to my first class in the UTC. somehow I only heard one gunshot, or maybe the first gunshots just didn't register in my head as anything more than noise. then there were people running and screaming on 21st that there was someone with a gun. Sooo scary. I heard so many rumors, including that 10(!) people had been killed and that's what we all believed for a while. I was practically bawling even after I realized everything was going to be okay. My mom was on the phone with me for hours crying because I guess she thought I was minutes away from death. Haha</p>
<p>Seriously though, I almost cry just thinking about Colton Tooley's family, how he must have felt to have put himself (and so many others) through this. is UT doing enough to provide an atmosphere in which students can relieve their stress? I've read some pretty awful things about the counseling service here in light of what happened ... does that hold any water or is it people just bitterly blaming the system for an unpredictable tragedy?</p>
<p>I was getting rushing to get ready for school and having to do my homework. I would have been headed that way but my roommate told me of the texts and then I heard the sirens that I at first was like, “That has got to be the most annoying car alarm” or a firetruck since one will occasionally go by at least once a week on my side of campus.</p>
<p>:(</p>
<p>I’m not a stranger to losing a loved one to suicide. It’s horrible and leaves you with so many unanswered questions. I was mad for a long time too but now its like why bother just let him rest in peace. </p>
<p>I really wonder what was going through Colton T’s mind yesterday. And if drugs and/or a psychological disorder was going on with him. </p>
<p>And yeah I had all my relatives call and I mean from NY to Cali to Mexico — they all heard about it. :s</p>
<p>I was 2,100 miles away when my son called to tell me about the text message warning. It was hard being so far away, especially since my son and father were on campus. Charles Whitman, the '66 sniper, was a student of my dad’s, and I can’t believe Dad was here for another shooting. I won’t forget the day for a long time. I, too, feel so horrible for Colton’s family. I saw his mother’s Facebook page before it was deleted - she’s such an ordinary mom! She was cheering for the Cowboys on Sunday.</p>
<p>I was in the Welch building for a 100+ person lecture during the incident (it’s a good thing I was because I heard everyone in most of the buildings south of the tower was frisked by intimidating SWAT guys). When someone got the text alert about the gunman, our professor locked the doors to our lecture room. About 15 minutes later, we heard someone trying to open the door. After a few tense moments, it turned out to be a faculty member with keys who told us to “stay put”.</p>
<p>We had a good laugh. Our professor was good at keeping levity during a situation like this.</p>
<p>But seriously, I feel so terrible for Colton Tooley’s family. Everyone who knew him described him as intelligent, nice, and respectful. I think it’s pretty clear from the way he acted during the incident (smiling, waving, not shooting anyone, saying “excuse me”) that he was never trying to hurt anybody else. It seemed like he had everything going for him; it’s mind-boggling to even speculate why he would do something like this.</p>
<p>On a local TV station’s website, I watched an interview with a psychiatrist. He said you have to remember that while his friends thought everything was going well for him, if he was depressed, he was looking at the world through “depression-tinted lenses.” All he saw was the bad stuff. His perspective on life was just messed up. Very sad. </p>
<p>A close friend of mine, a devout Christian lady with great kids and a wonderful, well-off husband, just confided that she went through severe depression earlier this summer. I NEVER would have guessed that, and I talk to her frequently! It got to the point that she literally could not sleep, period. Once she was put on anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication, she got better quickly. But she said she wasn’t even able to parent her children while she was going through that.</p>
<p>I was in my apartment in west campus, luckily. If it was MWF, I would have been walking to Jester right around then. I was trying to sleep in and I remember my phone started to get blown up so I decided to look and saw the school’s texts and people asking if I was ok. I subsequently spent the morning texting and calling people while watching the news. Pretty crazy morning and I feel horrible for his family. I too have lost a family member to suicide and I know how tough it is. But, I can’t imagine how much tougher it would be if it was a nationally known incident and everyone knew about it.</p>
<p>I think this event could be a good wake-up call for people and really bring to light that people who are down on their luck aren’t the only people who are depressed. For example, my family member was bright, successful and had a loving family, yet that didn’t change anything. Same with Colton. Depression is a chemical imbalance and a disease that can affect everyone, and the quicker people learn that, the better.</p>
<p>MainLonghorn-I received a text message from UT and of course immediately called my son to make sure he had received it as well. I presume we both received it because I have my cell # listed under his Primary Contact information in his “Emergency Contact Information.”</p>
<p>I, too, feel so terrible for Colton’s family. This tragedy is just incomprehensible. I know college can be extremely stressful but suicide is never the answer. An 8th grader in Houston also took his own life because of being bullied at school. Such a sad week.</p>
<p>I was in the William C. Hogg building. Back when I was still learning the campus, I used to walked down University to get to that specific class… now I’m really glad I learned a shorter path!</p>
<p>I got the text message from the UTPD around 8:20, but for some reason, I thought they had already caught the guy. But then one of the TAs interrupted the professor mid-lecture a few minutes later, and we were told about the situation.</p>
<p>It was kind of scary at first because some girl said seven people had been shot, and we couldn’t lock the auditorium doors, but things eventually died down… we spent most of the class switching between news stations on the projector. And even though it was unfortunate that the gunman ended up taking his own life, I’m glad that no one else was hurt.</p>
<p>Yeah, someone in my dorm was yelling about how seven people had been “confirmed dead” and how there was a second shooter “on the loose.” It scared everyone. Most people were crying and one girl fainted.</p>