COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A deadly shootout erupted Monday near the Texas A&M University campus when a man being brought an eviction notice opened fire on a Texas law enforcement officer, leaving three people dead, including the officer and the
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A deadly shootout erupted Monday near the Texas A&M University campus when a man being brought an eviction notice opened fire on a Texas law enforcement officer, leaving three people dead, including the officer and the gunman.
Police say Thomas Alton Caffall, 35, opened fire on Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann just after noon as the lawman brought an eviction notice. Both men were later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Police identified Chris Northcliff, 43, as the third person killed in the shootings at an off-campus home not far from the university’s football stadium. Three other law enforcement officers and a 55-year-old woman were wounded, College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum said.
Caffall’s sister said Monday night the family was “shocked” by the violence.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and this is just a senseless tragedy,” said Courtney Clark, Caffall’s sister, reached Monday evening at her mother’s home. “We are just distraught by the havoc that he has caused.”
Officers responding Monday afternoon to reports of an officer down saw Bachmann wounded on the ground in the front yard, then got into what McCollum described as an extended shootout with Caffall, who eventually was shot.
Police spokeswoman Rhonda Seaton said Northcliff was outside the home when he was shot, as was the wounded woman, whose name has not been released.
The woman was hospitalized in serious condition following surgery. One of the injured officers, Justin Oehlkee, was treated for a gunshot wound in the calf and was in stable condition, Seaton said. Two other officers — Brad Smith and Phil Dorsett, were treated for “shrapnel injuries” and released, Seaton said.
Police declined to speculate on a motive for the gunfire.
The shootings prompted Texas A&M to issue an emergency alert warning students and residents to stay away from the area. Most of the university’s 50,000 students were not on the campus about 90 miles northwest of Houston because the fall semester doesn’t start until Aug. 27, university spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll said.
Diana Harbourt, 27, who lives about a block from where the shootings happened, said she heard five loud popping sounds from a back room of her home looking out her front door to see an officer park his vehicle on the street and crouch in front of another vehicle.
“We heard him exchanging some words with the person and then shots being fired,” Harbourt said. “And then we heard more sirens and more officers and fire trucks came and they were keeping their distance, kind of slowly moving in. More officers showed up and told us to stay inside.”
