911 calls, video on UT gunman released

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A man is desperate to get to his wife, who is trapped on campus with a gunman.

A law professor is running to his class to warn his students about the guy he saw shooting an assault rifle on 21st Street.

A student inside the Perry-Castaneda Library is wondering if she's on the same floor as the shooter.

Calls to the University of Texas police 911 line came fast and furious on the day that Colton Tooley opened fire on campus on Sept. 28 before dodging into the PCL library and killing himself.

There were no other injuries, but the campus was on lockdown for several hours while officers and Special Weapons and Tactical team members scoured the area for any more potential shooters. Surveillance video from inside the library shows the Tooley, dressed in black and carrying his gun, moving quickly through the library - not addressing anyone, not looking at anyone - and few people reacting, as if they didn't realize the gunman was real, and not a stunt.

In between calling their loved ones to let them know what was going on, people stuck on campus during the ordeal described harrowing scenes and frightening sounds to 911 dispatchers.

The very first call to come in was from a staffer who reported that the man in the suit firing the assault weapon had just passed him, firing his gun into the air and knocking leaves off trees.

"I just punched the gas and got out of there when I saw that," he told the 911 operator.

Callers described hearing gunshots, or seeing a man in a suit with an asault rifle, or asked if the news was true and what they should do. Responders in the 911 center repeatedly told them to get behind a locked door, stay away from windows, and don't open the doors until they're given the all-clear.

"This guy ran right in front of me at 21st and University with an assault rifle shoting," one caller, a law professor, said . "It looks very real to me. ... I’ll let the law school know, as many people as I can."

Another man called to ask if he could go onto campus and get his wife , who worked there.

"I just wanted to get her because this thing is going to get worse, I know it," he said. The dispatcher told him he could not get on campus and gave him a number to call for updates.

Another caller saw Tooley going up the stairs in the library with his gun with "a banana clip. It looked like an SKS."

And several callers just wanted to know if the reports were real, and what they should do.

"Get into a locked room, stay away from the windows, don’t open it for anyone," the dispatcher said, adding that if the door couldn't be locked, "block the door with desks."