Houston McCoy, the APD officer who ended UT Tower sniper Charles Whitman's deadly rampage, has only a short time to live.
KVUE's Noelle Newton recently met with McCoy in what he says is his final interview.
For years there was a controversy about who fired the fatal shots. Autopsy records prove it was McCoy who saved countless lives. Yet he has trouble admitting his actions were heroic. He doesn't like to be singled out and says we should thank everyone who stood up to Whitman that day.
"A soldier's got his duty, a policeman's got their duty, a fireman's got their duty, and a teacher has their duty. You do your job," McCoy explains.
Charles Whitman killed 16 people and wounded 32 others during a shooting spree on and around the University of Texas campus on August 1, 1966.
The shotgun McCoy used to bring down Whitman remains in storage at the Austin Police Department. APD's historian showed it to KVUE in this web extra:
Click here to read McCoy's account of the shooting. Read Life Magazine's 1966 cover story.
The extensive arsenal Charles Whitman hauled up to the tower's observation deck included a hatchet, machete, 6mm Remington, numerous boxes of shells and other supplies. Click here to see the complete list.
Click the player below for local news coverage of the 1966 shooting.
"I have been asked many times how the ’66 UT tower incident affected my life. Although it was a significant moment, it was, but only one reflection of my life and did not dictate my overall character. When momentous events occur in one’s life, you no longer know life without it; that is our journey. With or without August 1, 1966, I know I am loved by my family and respected by many friends, what else can a man ask for? Being surrounded by my loving family and friends – I go peacefully to more family and friends in the great beyond and know they will escort me to meet my maker," Houston McCoy to the Austin-American Statesman in 2011.
