Trunk Items Support TBI

A photo of some of the items Whitman took with him to the UT tower observation deck during the assault.

In addition to guns and ammunition, Whitman took a large trunk full of various unnecessary items (e.g., snake bite kit, foot powder, extension cord, etc.) to the UT tower observation deck for the assault. Without context, his actions were reported as a plan to stay up there for as long as possible, thus needing all the supplies. Just a few thought experiments debunk this idea pretty quickly. Research has actually looked into why a TBI-impacted brain may do this.

From Charles Whitman: Up Against All Odds:

"Effective planning depends on an individual's ability to hold rules and conditions in mind using working memory, represent and keep track of available options, and forecast the consequences of each course of action," Amanda R. Rabinowitz, PhD, and Harvey S. Levin, PhD, stated in a paper published in 2014. "TBI patients are more likely than uninjured individuals to violate the rules and take unnecessary steps in their execution of a task."