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HOUSTON: Three people, including a policeman, were killed and four others injured in a deadly shootout near a top Texas university, the fourth mass shooting in the US in less than a month, including the Wisconsin gurdwara carnage.
The incident took place on Monday in College Station area near Texas A&M University when Brazos county constable Brian Bachmann went to a house to serve an eviction notice, triggering the suspect, who was inside, to open fire on him and leading the officer to call for backup, police said.
After the call from Bachmann, who later succumbed to his injuries, officers rushed to the scene and exchanged fire with the gunman, identified as 35-year-old Thomas Alton Caffall, over a 30 minute-period before he was fatally shot.
A 43-year-old man, identified as Chris Northcliff, was the third person killed in the shooting, College Station assistant police chief Scott McCollum said, adding that three other officers and a woman were injured.
"We're told the suspect was renting that house," he said. Police did not release a possible motive for the shooting, but confirmed that Caffall opened fire while the constable was serving him an eviction notice.
An eviction document, known as a forcible entry detainer, was filed against Caffall last Thursday, according to the County court records.
Constable Bachmann, who was pronounced dead at an area hospital shortly after he was shot, was a 19-year veteran of the Brazos county sheriff's department.
Among the injured was 55-year-old Barbara Holdsworth of Houston, who was in College Station to help her daughter move ahead at the start of the school year.
Holdsworth was shot in the shoulder and underwent a surgery. She is now listed in critical condition. College Station police Officer Justin Oehlke was shot in the calf and listed as stable, while two other officers - Brad Smith and Phil Dorsette - were hit by shrapnel and their injuries were not serious.
Caffall's sister Courtney Clark says her family is shocked by what her brother has done. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families, and this is just a senseless tragedy." The shooting scene is a few blocks from the university campus' football stadium. Texas A&M spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll said most students were not on campus on Monday as the fall semester does not begin until August 27.
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