Antique Texas Ban on Carry of Weapons Fails Again in Austin, 1 Dead, 3 Wounded

Austin Knife Attack Suspect Kendrix  J. White

At about 1:30 on 1 May, 2017, an attack on multiple victims occurred on the University of Texas, Austin campus. One is dead, at least three others are being treated. The suspect, shown above, is Kendrick J. White. From statesman.com:

Police got the call around 1:30 p.m. this afternoon about a person with a knife who attacked or assaulted someone outside the Gregory gym.

A UT police officer saw a man, later identified as White, with a “large, bowie-style hunting knife,” Carter said. The officer drew his gun and told White to get on the ground, which he did, and police took him into custody.

Within about a block, three more people were found stabbed, Carter said.

Carter said UT police decided not to put the campus on lockdown because White was immediately taken into custody.

From abc13.com:

One person died at the scene near the gym. The others were taken to the hospital. There were reports of additional victims with non-life-threatening injuries, according to tweets from Travis County Emergency Medical Services.

White appears to have violated the ban on carrying Bowie knives, first passed in 1871. The law was passed during reconstruction after the Civil War. From guncite.com: 

Any person carrying on or about his person, saddle, or in his saddle-bags, any pistol, dirk, dagger, sling-shot, sword-cane, spear, brass knuckles, bowie knife, or any other kind of knife, manufactured or sold, for the purpose of offense or defense, unless he has reasonable grounds for fearing an unlawful attack on his person, and that such ground of attack shall be immediate and pressing; or unless having or carrying the same on or about his person for the lawful defense of the State, as a militiaman in actual service, or as a peace officer or policeman, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor .... Provided, That this section shall not be so construed as to prohibit any person from keeping or having arms on his or her own premises, or at his or her own place of business, nor to prohibit sheriffs or revenue officers, and other civil officers, from keeping or having arms, while engaged in the discharge of their official duties, nor to prohibit persons traveling in the State from keeping or carrying arms with their baggage...

 Today, that code has been been changed a bit. Firearms or replicas of designs made before 1899 are completely exempted. From state.tx.us:

(A) an antique or curio firearm manufactured before 1899; or

(B) a replica of an antique or curio firearm manufactured before 1899, but only if the replica does not use rim fire or center fire ammunition.

Those would be all firearms originally affected by the 1871 law.

Knife designs from the period have been retained in the current code.

(6) "Illegal knife" means a:

(A) knife with a blade over five and one-half inches;

(B) hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown;

(C) dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard;

(D) bowie knife;

(E) sword; or

(F) spear.

From the sheath on White's belt, I estimate the knife to have a 12 inch blade.

White does not appear to have any previous encounters with police, other than a car wreak on campus. No one called the police before the attack occurred. when the attack started, people had a hard time accepting that it was real. This is the common "This cannot be happening response", and it is extremely dangerous. From thetab.com:

An eyewitness report of the incident is being shared on social media from UT student Alyson G:

“Me and Brandon were eating at Chilantro’s truck at a long picnic table. Then at the end of the table some guy comes up in a bandana and stabs the knife into the table and looks all of us in the eye. I thought it was just some theatrical stunt or something. He pulls the knife out without saying anything and turns around to slash some guy in the back of the neck. The slash victim grabs the back of his neck and yells (people look at him and I await some sort of ‘gotcha’ statement). But then… The attackers walks to another guy and stabs him in like the kidney region in his back. Some guy yells run and we all bolt to McComb’s.”

The response time appears to have been good. It was about two minutes from the time that police were called until White was confronted and arrested. It probably took at least a minute for someone to call the police.

If any of the dozens of people on the scene had taken advantage of Texas' Campus Carry law, it is likely that the attack would have ended far sooner.  People with permits are trained to overcome the "This cannot be happening response". As soon as White was confronted by an armed man, the attack was stopped.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch