Whitman buys and cuts down a Double barreled shotgun prior to his rampage. In real life, Whitman's sawed-off shotgun was an automatic shotgun, described in the police report as a "Sears 12 gauge 2.75 chamber automatic shotgun."
One of the most common rifles in the movie is the Remington Model 760 pump action rifle. Whitman has one in his arsenal, but is never shown using it. It is the only weapon shown used by Lieutenant Lee (Pernell Roberts) and Allan Crum (Ned Beatty). Various policemen and armed citizens are shown using it throughout the film as well.
Officer Ramiro Martinez (Richard Yniguez) is armed with a Smith & Wesson Model 19 as his service weapon. In the film, as in real life, he empties his revolver into Whitman, but the film ignores the fact that officially, Whitman didn't die until he was shot in the head with a shotgun by Officer Houston McCoy.
Various policemen and civilians, including Officer C.T. Foss (Paul Carr), are shown with Ithaca 37 shotguns. Foss is in the film in place of Officer Houston McCoy, who refused to allow his name to be used. Foss is shown freezing upon seeing Whitman and not firing at all, while in reality, McCoy is officially credited with firing the shots that killed Whitman.
Understandably, the city of Austin and the University of Texas refused to assist in the filming, as less than a decade had passed since the actual massacre. In lieu of the UT Main Building, filmmakers used the Louisiana State Capitol building, which resembled the UT tower.
