Warning system passes test in shooting death at University of Texas

From The Austin American-Statesman: The University of Texas used everything but carrier pigeons to let its students, faculty and staff know that a gunman was on the Austin campus and that they should stay indoors. Officials employed e-mail, the school's website, video monitors in buildings and residence halls, Twitter and Facebook, beginning at 8:19 a.m. Tuesday, nine minutes after getting the first report that someone was firing a weapon. The text message system alone reached more than 53,000 people, officials say.

ALSO: Investigators and the family of were looking for clues to what led Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old student armed with an AK-47, to open fire at the University of Texas campus in Austin. He sprayed several rounds before he turned the gun on himself as officers closed in. No one else was struck by Tooley's bullets. The gunfire still sent students and employees at one of the nation's largest universities scrambling for cover as sirens blared and loudspeakers urged them to seek shelter.