A Texas constable and two others were killed Monday in a shooting near Texas A&M University, police said.
Scott McCollum, assistant
chief with the College Station police department, told reporters
Monday
afternoon that the three people killed were the constable, the man
authorities say exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers and an
unidentified 65-year-old male civilian.
The dead included Brian
Bachmann, a constable in Brazos County, according to McCollum. According
to his Facebook campaign page, Bachmann was a 41-year-old from College
Station who had been a Brazos County sheriff's deputy since 1993. The
county's website indicated that his four-year term as constable was set
to expire on December 31, 2014.
"He was a pillar in this community, and it's sad and tragic that we've lost him today," McCollum said.
The assistant police
chief didn't offer details on the suspected gunman, beyond saying he was
in his mid-30s. As to the third victim, a post on the city of College
Station's official Twitter page identified him as a "civilian
bystander."
Four others suffered injuries in the prolonged ordeal, which occurred a few blocks from the Texas A&M campus.
They include a law
enforcement officer who was shot in the calf and two other officers who
suffered "non-life threatening injuries," McCollum said. A 55-year-old
female civilian was also shot and was undergoing surgery Monday
afternoon at a hospital, according to the assistant police chief.
He explained that police
got a call shortly after 12:10 p.m. from "a citizen" indicating shots
had been fired in the residential area just south of the university
campus. He added that the constable had gone to the residence to deliver
an "eviction notice."
Texas A&M issued a
Code Maroon -- the university's emergency notification system -- at
12:29 p.m., telling people to avoid the area where there was a report of
an "active shooter."
By then, two law
enforcement officers who were nearby had responded and found the
constable down in the front yard of a home. They "received fire from the
suspect inside, ... took cover and defended themselves," McCollum said,
noting other officers were then called to the scene.
"They ended up shooting the gunman," said the assistant police chief.
At 12:44 p.m., Texas A&M posted another Code Maroon update on its website indicating the suspect was by then "in custody."
Officer Jon Agnew with
the Bryan Police Department -- a community that's adjacent to College
Station -- noted the shooting occurred in a "residential area." He and
McCollum said authorities were investigating, and they stressed that
authorities had control of the scene.
"The area is secure," Agnew said. "We feel the community is safe for right now."