Manhunt underway after gunman kills 2, injures 14 at Texas A&M University-Commerce

Manhunt underway after gunman kills 2, injures 14 at Texas A&M University-Commerce party

John Bacon, USA TODAY
Published 5:53 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019 | Updated 11:38 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019

Hunt County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Buddy Oxford said an off-campus Texas A&M University-Commerce party shooting killed two and injured 14. Associated Press, Wochit



Two people were dead, 14 were injured and a manhunt was underway Sunday after a gunman opened fire at an off-campus Texas A&M University-Commerce party, igniting "complete chaos" as hundreds scrambled to safety, authorities said.

Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks said the shooting took place just after midnight in Greenville, a town of 27,000 people 50 miles northeast of Dallas. No suspect had been identified, and no description was immediately being released, Oxford said.

Meeks said at least 750 people were at a Halloween party that was also celebrating the school's homecoming weekend, although it was not a university-sanctioned event. Deputies had been called to the scene to deal with parking complaints about 15 minutes before the first shots rang out, Oxford said.

"When the shots were fired it was completed chaos as people fled for safety and deputies attempted to locate the shooter," Meeks said.

Deputies heard gunshots coming from the back of the building known at The Party Venue, about 15 miles from the school's campus, but could not immediately determine whether the shots were fired from inside or outside, Oxford said.

Authorities initially said the weapon was a semiautomatic rifle, but Meeks said investigators now believe one gunman opened fire with a handgun.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...unds&auto=webpPolice vehicles sit at the Party Venue after a shooting in Greenville, Texas. (Photo: LARRY W. SMITH, EPA-EFE)


Officers found the bodies of two men inside the building, Meeks said.

"The shooter came in the back door," Meeks said.

"His first victim, we think, may have been his target victim, the rest of them were just random."

Still, Meeks said he does not believe the shooter poses an immediate danger to the general public.

Meeks said he did not know whether the two people were killed were university students, but he said at least four or five of the shooting victims were students. Ten of the 14 who were injured had been shot, the others suffered cuts or bruises while fleeing the scene, he said.

"Some of the injuries were from broken glass, they were breaking the glass in the windows trying to get out of the building," Meeks said. "It was mass confusion when the shooting started."

About 90% of the partygoers were in their late teens or early 20s, many coming from as far away as Fort Worth, he said.

Medical City Plano spokeswoman Melissa Sauvage said the hospital received three of the wounded, all of whom were in critical condition.

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Texas A&M University-Commerce is the second-largest campus in the Texas A&M system with 6,000 undergraduate students and 4,000 graduate students.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ng/2477820001/

Brandon Ray Gonzales, 23, of Greenville, Texas, was taken into custody less than 48 hours after Saturday's shooting, Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks said. Gonzales, who was arrested at the auto dealership where he worked, was booked into the Hunt County jail on a charge of capital murder of multiple persons. Bond was set at $1 million.