Thread: Texas A-M University reports 'active shooter' in custody

Texas A-M University reports 'active shooter' in custody

2:11 PM, August 13, 2012 |
By Douglas Stanglin
USA TODAY

Texas A&M University reports on its website that an "active shooter" is in custody.

The university, located in College Station, Texas, initially reported the shooter at 12:29 p.m. CT, and reported 15 minutes later than he was in custody.

Update at 2:06 p.m. ET: Here is the university's initial report on its website:
0"Avoid Area. CSPD reports an active shooter in the area immediately southeast of the intersection of Welborn Rd and George Bush Drive. Please avoid the area. Residents in the immediate area need to remain inside their residence."

No additional details were immediately available.

Texas A-M University reports 'active shooter' in custody | Nation/World | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Multiple people, officers, shot near Texas A&M University

Reuters 1:46 p.m. CDT, August 13, 2012

(Reuters) - Multiple people, including law enforcement officers, were shot on Monday when a gunman opened fire near Texas A&M University, police in College Station, Texas, said.

"We have multiple people who have been shot," police spokeswoman Rhonda Seaton told CNN, adding that law enforcement officers were among those.

Police had the shooting suspect in custody, according to the university's website. The extent of victims' injuries was not immediately clear.

The university issued a "code maroon" shortly after noon, warning students and employees that an "active shooter" was in the area west of campus and asking them to stay away.

The gunman fired shots from inside a home about two blocks from the campus, according to the university's alert.

"We have been told to stay put," said Keith Randall, a Texas A&M employee who was in his office. "They just asked us to stay where we are."

Multiple people, officers, shot near Texas A&M University - chicagotribune.com

Aug 13, 2012 Texas A-M shooter in custody; 1 officer, 1 civilian dead

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
Updated 9m ago

College Station police say a gunman killed one police officer and a civilian and wounded another officer near Texas A&M University. The gunman is in custody.

The university, located in College Station, about 90 miles northwest of Houston, initially reported the shooting at 1:29 p.m. ET, and 15 minutes later said a gunman was in custody. The university immediately issued a Code Maroon on its emergency website, instructing students and school personnel to avoid the area.
Update at 3:43 p.m. ET: Police also say one civilian has died.

Update at 3:36 p.m. ET: The local Eaglenewspaper, KBTX and the Associated Press are now reporting that one officer has died.

Update at 3:17 p.m. ET: Two police officers and one civilian were wounded, a Bryan Police spokesman says, the Associated Press reports.

Update at 2:35 p.m. ET: The shooting incident occurred a few blocks off campus, Texas A & M University spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll tells USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand Leger.

Carroll says she learned of the shooting from the campus police chief, who asked her to alert students, faculty and staff to avoid the area. Within 15 minutes, police called to say the shooter was in custody, Carroll says.

"We are OK now," Carroll says. "For a while, it was scary."

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET: The Eagle, the College Station newspaper, reports that the incident appears to have started on Fidelity Street near George Bush Dr., not far from the A&M Former Student's Association building.

Other media reports say the shooter apparently had barricaded himself into a building.

Update at 2:27 p.m. ET: KBTX reports it has confirmed that more than one law enforcement officer had been wounded.

KBTX quotes a spokesperson for the College Station Police Department as saying there were no confirmed fatalities.

"The scene is reportedly under control and there is no longer a danger to the public," KBTX report.

Update at 2:22 p.m. ET: The College Station newspaper, The Eagle, reports that police scanners referred to two officers being wounded, but that was not immediately confirmed.

(Correction at 2:56 p.m. ET: We earlier wrongly referred to the Eagle as the school newspaper.)

Update at 2:18 p.m. ET: KHOU.com reports that at least two people were shot. KHOU reports that police say the suspect was firing shots from a house near the campus.

Update at 2:14 p.m. ET: Police officer Seaton, in her interview with CNN, said she did not know at this time the extent of the injuries .

Update at 2:12 p.m. ET: Brazos County police scanners report at least two people "are down."

Update at 2:11 p.m. ET: College Station, Texas, police officer Rhonda Seaton tells CNN that the "multiple people" have been injured.

Update at 2:06 p.m. ET: Here is the university's initial report on its website:

Avoid Area. CSPD reports an active shooter in the area immediately southeast of the intersection of Welborn Rd and George Bush Drive. Please avoid the area. Residents in the immediate area need to remain inside their residence.

No futher details were immediately available.

Texas A-M shooter in custody; 1 officer, 1 civilian dead

3 killed in shooting near Texas A&M University

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 4:07 PM EDT, Mon August 13, 2012

(CNN) -- A Texas constable and two others were killed Monday in a shooting near Texas A&M University, police said.

Rhonda Seaton, a spokeswoman with the College Station police department, told CNN that the three people killed were the constable, the man authorities say opened fire on law enforcement officers and an unidentified civilian.

A few minutes earlier, Asst. Chief Scott McCollum, from the same police department, told reporters that at least four people -- two law enforcement officers and two civilians -- were shot in the incident, which occurred around noon just a few blocks from the Texas A&M campus.

The dead included Brian Bachman, the constable for Brazos County, according to McCollum.

A male civilian was also killed, the assistant police chief said.
Earlier, Seaton told CNN that a person identified as the man who began shooting at law enforcement authorities had been taken into custody.

Texas A&M issued a Code Maroon -- warning students and others on campus to find safety -- at 12:29 p.m., after a report of an "active shooter."

An update at 12:44 p.m., also posted on the university's website, indicated that the suspected shooter 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 said on Monday afternoon that, while authorities had not yet ruled out additional suspects and continued to canvass the scene, they believed the area was safe.

"The area is secure," Agnew said. "We feel the community is safe for right now."

3 killed in shooting near Texas A&M University - CNN.com

August 14, 2012 10:38 AM

Texas A&M Shooting: An eviction notice allegedly caused Thomas Alton Caffall, the suspected gunman, to open fire


Thomas Alton Caffall, seen in an undated Facebook photo.
(Credit: Facebook)

(CBS/AP) COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The shooting that took the lives of three people began Monday afternoon when a county law enforcement official arrived at the home of Thomas Alton Caffall to serve an eviction notice.PICTURES: 3 killed in shooting near Texas A&M University

Caffall, 35, allegedly opened fire on County Constable Brian Bachmann, 41. Shots were exchanged, leaving Bachmann, Caffall and another man dead near the campus of Texas A&M University.
Just after noon, College Station police began fielding frantic 911 calls about gunfire in the neighborhood near the university's football stadium. Responding officers found Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann shot on the lawn of the house.

For nearly 30 minutes, police exchanged shots with Caffall as a neighbor, a former Army medic, waited with frustration for the all-clear so he could tend to the injured constable.

Bachmann, a police instructor, one-time Officer of the Year and a married father of two, had been mortally wounded. So was Chris Northcliff, 43, of College Station, who was outside and apparently caught up in the gunfire.

Caffall too was shot and later died at a hospital.

Police wouldn't speculate on what sparked the shooting and it wasn't immediately clear who shot whom.

"We're trying to make some sense of this," College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum said.

A neighbor and former medic, Rigo Cisneros, called 911 when he heard the shooting. In video shot on his cellphone showing police officers running into the house, Cisneros, 40, can be heard asking an officer if an ambulance is coming and if he can meanwhile tend to Bachmann's wounds. The officer tells Cisneros he must wait until the shooting scene is secure.

Cisneros told The Bryan-College Station Eagle that by the time he was allowed to approach Bachmann's body, it was too late.

"I performed CPR. There were no vital signs on the constable when I got there," he said. "He took one clear gunshot wound to the chest."

Cisneros said he also went to Caffall, who was shot several times but still conscious.

"I was asking him questions, like if he knew he was allergic to anything," Cisneros said. "He looked up at me and asked me to apologize to the officer that was shot."

Details about Caffall were slow to emerge.

Officials at Texas A&M, the 50,000-student school that dominates the city 100 miles northwest of Houston, said he was neither a student nor school employee. Police said he had been renting the home where he was staying.

Caffall's sister said Monday night that 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, reached Monday evening at her mother's home in Navasota, about 20 miles to the south. "We are just distraught by the havoc that he has caused."

Besides the three fatalities, a 55-year-old woman also was wounded and was hospitalized in serious condition. Her name had not been released by Monday evening.

Another officer, Justin Oehlke, was treated for a gunshot wound in the calf and was in stable condition, police spokeswoman Rhonda Seaton said. Two other officers - Brad Smith and Phil Dorsett - were treated for "shrapnel injuries" and released, Seaton said.

Bachmann had worked more than 19 years in law enforcement, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. He had been a constable since January 2011.

Constables are law enforcement officers similar to sheriff's deputies who are elected to serve in specific county precincts. They primarily serve civil warrants and official paperwork or act as courtroom bailiffs.

Texas A&M issued an emergency alert warning students and residents to stay clear of the area although most students weren't on campus because the fall semester doesn't start until later this month.
Diana Harbourt, 27, whose house is about a block away, said she had just come home for lunch when she and her boyfriend heard five, loud-popping sounds.

"I just thought it was somebody moving wood or stacking something," Harbourt said. "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. ... The fear didn't hit me until after the fact, especially when I found a bullet hole in front of my house."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an A&M alumnus, said at an event in Florida that his "prayers are with any of those that have been injured." A&M President R. Bowen Loftin issued a statement calling Monday a "sad day in the Bryan-College Station community."

Texas A&M Shooting: An eviction notice allegedly caused Thomas Alton Caffall, the suspected gunman, to open fire - Crimesider - CBS News