Police: 3 dead after shooting near Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — 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 in Navasota, about 20 miles to the south. "We are just distraught by the havoc that he has caused."
She declined additional comment.
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 had not been released by Monday evening.
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."
Officers, meanwhile, were dealing with losing someone McCollum called a respected colleague.
"Brian Bachmann was very close to everyone in law enforcement," McCollum said. "He was a pillar in this community, and it's sad and tragic that we've lost him today."
Bachmann, 41, worked more than 19 years in law enforcement, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. He started out with the Hempstead Police Department before spending most of his career with the Brazos County Sheriff's Office. He had been a constable since January 2011, after winning election to the post the prior November.
In a February 2010 candidate profile in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the married father of two said he wanted to bring "constables back to the community" by actively patrolling neighborhoods to discourage crime.
Constables are law enforcement officers similar to sheriff's deputies who are elected to serve in specific county precincts. They primarily serve warrants and official paperwork or act as courtroom bailiffs.
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."
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 in Navasota, about 20 miles to the south. "We are just distraught by the havoc that he has caused."
She declined additional comment.
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 had not been released by Monday evening.
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."
Officers, meanwhile, were dealing with losing someone McCollum called a respected colleague.
"Brian Bachmann was very close to everyone in law enforcement," McCollum said. "He was a pillar in this community, and it's sad and tragic that we've lost him today."
Bachmann, 41, worked more than 19 years in law enforcement, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. He started out with the Hempstead Police Department before spending most of his career with the Brazos County Sheriff's Office. He had been a constable since January 2011, after winning election to the post the prior November.
In a February 2010 candidate profile in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the married father of two said he wanted to bring "constables back to the community" by actively patrolling neighborhoods to discourage crime.
Constables are law enforcement officers similar to sheriff's deputies who are elected to serve in specific county precincts. They primarily serve warrants and official paperwork or act as courtroom bailiffs.
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."
Hey gun nuts....notice the article doesn't say 3 dead after stabbing near Texas A & M
 @cyclops Notice how it also doesn't say "Average, responsible gun owner shoots 3 near Texas A&M"
 @cyclopshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_school_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara_massacre
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And remeber the Chinese kid that killed 8 people with a knife?Â
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Here is a good article -Â http://www.spartancops.com/edged-weapon-mass-murder/
 @Audio Cat Ok...2 knife incidents in 11 years compared to 2 gun incidents every week in the US?  Any more silly stats you care to share?
You know what kind of attack I'm afraid of. No its not a home invasion. Nope not an attack at my childrenâs school, or an attack at work.  I worry about Heart attacks. That sucker comes out of nowhere and can get us all. I propose we ban hearts immediately  That way we can all sleep better tonight.Â
I have no problem with the 3 day wait for a gun. I have no problem with the law having a license to carry it concealed. I DO have a problem with all these armchair grannies wanting to take my gun(s) away from me. Why don't you go live in Mexico for a while. You can't own one down there, but do the crooks give a damn??? No, not it the least. That is exactly what will happen if they take our guns away from us, then only the crooks will have them and they will use them when ever they want. You can put down all the stats you want, but are there any that tell what happened in Mexico when someone want's to shoot someone for encroaching on his or her turf? Get a life people. There have been you armchair grannies (who's little boy never does anything wrong) harping for years trying to strip our only defense away from us. GO LIVE IN MEXICO FOR A WHILE, then come back (if your still breathing and have a head) and tell us all about it.
 @LongBeachBum Point of interest - Mexico has the highest rate of knife related homicides in the world.
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I wonder how much the anti gun laws have curbed that down there....
If these stats are correct, they are for Europe, take a look at the gun laws in these countries.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
http://worldnews.about.com/od/crime/tp/Top-Murder-Rates-In-The-World.htm
The U,S. has 4.2 murders per 100,000 people, the worst place to live is Washington D.C.
In troubled times like these I turn to the NRA for guidance. Where for art thou Mr. Heston?
To the anti-gun people: Sorry, this is America. Born because citizens owned guns and finally said NO to an overwhelming government. Guns aren't going away in this country. So you might as well arm yourself and learn how to use it. If you don't like it, you can live in fear, or move to another country.
 @Ron Burgandy The only people more backward thinking than you already live in the middle east.
 @Ron Burgandy Not reality, sorry. And if the majority of people wake up and want to stop the arms race here then that will happen. The arms race does not make us safe.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 Of course. Being defenseless against violence makes us safe. At least if you live in an Orwellian world it does.
Some sources are saying the constable that was shot and killed was serving eviction papers on the suspect. Something law enforcement should have nothing to do with. Eviction is a civil matter not a criminal matter. Doesn't make the shooting right but it helps put it in to perspective. When you place housing out of the reach of millions of people these things will happen. If it wasn't gun it would be an ax or knife or a molotov cocktail, guns are not the issue. But people with the ability to be objective will make these things about 2nd Amendment rights or the lack there of.
Its going to get worse until we restore balance to this country. And I don't see that in the cards for quite some time.
 @Blindman "If it wasn't gun it would be an ax or knife or a molotov cocktail, guns are not the issue..."Excactly.... or it could be like the idiot in Colorado who tried to light the hallway carpet in his apartment building on fire because he was evicted.
 @Blindman That actually depends on the details of the eviction. Typically, police aren't involved in such a thing. However, if the someone ignores an eviction notice from a landlord, the police can be called to give him one chance to leave or be taken away for criminal trespassing.
Please NRA, tell us how guns don't kill people. Please tell us the founders meant for us to have every nut case armed. Many of the mass shooting were committed with legally purchsed weapons. So, tell me how crimminals are getting guns. Here is is one NRA, you say people whom are armed protect people who are not, yet in all the past shootings no one stepped up with thier legal pistol and saved anyone. People are getting shot everywhere and the NRA says wants citizen to go out and buy more guns.
Strap on your legal side arm and walk the streets holding your child's hand just hoping no one attacks you. Well guess what, it does not matter how armed you are, if someone wants to attack you-that gun won't protect 100%, chances are the attacker will get away with your gun.
We don't new laws, just the NRA needs to stop arming America. We need the NRA to stay out of politics, stay out of lobbying for the gun industry, stop pushing for laws like "Stand your Ground", stopping making guns more important than life.
Come you NRA fools, tell me how guns don't kill and tell that the 2nd amendment was maent for today.
@snoopy84 The gun used in this shooting was taken from the sheriff involved in the eviction. Feel stupid now?
@LockesChild " Many of the mass shooting were committed with legally purchsed weapons" Is what I said-did not say all.
7/12 Aurora Co 12 killed
8/66 Austin TXÂ 16 Killed
7/18/84 Â San Ysidro McDonald's massacre 21 killed
8/20/86 Edmond OK 14 Killed
6/18/90 Jacksonville FLÂ 10 Killed
5/21/98 Springfield OR 4 killed (parent bought the gun for him and they were killed)
4/20/99 Columbine CO 13 killed
4/16/07 Va Tech 32 killed
1/8/11Â Â 6 Killed
The list goes on.128 people killed did not mention wounded all at the hands of legally purchased weapons. There about 10 more of these but they did not say if the guns were legall-but reading the articles, it is safe to say most were.
Cafe Racer was a legally purchased gun that the family wanted to have taken away but the law said different.
So, NO, I do not feel stupid. Maybe you should!
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 @snoopy84 Yeah, Mexico has the strictest gun laws in the worls and they don't have any problems.....uhh wait, well its only the criminals causing problems there...no that doesn't work either.
 @snoopy84 I'll tell you how guns don't kill people.  Look at how many guns exist in the world.  Then look at the number of murders by gun.  Now look at a gun. Notice that it does absolutely nothing. Now look at a human being. Notice that the human can manipulate mechanical devices.
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Now look at the gun. Notice that the gun is a mechanical device that does absolutely nothing without manipulation.Now try to get the gun to fire without manipulating it.Understand how guns don't kill people?More people die every day driving cars than are killed by people shooting guns.  Shall we stop allowing people to drive?The 2nd Amendment very much applies to today. A disarmed American society is one that will result in a completely government-controlled society -- which is precisely one major purpose of the 2nd Amendment.
@Sovereign The purpose of the 2nd was to have a miltia because we did not have much of a standing army after the war. People were hunting for food. Over the years we increased the reasons for being armed, that was fine. But in the last few decades we turned or nation into the most violant society in the industrilizes world.
This arguement about cars and knives is insane. Guns are the weapons of choice in mass killings, that is not up for debate. If you really beleave our standing army would take controll of it's own people, your insane. It does not matter who the president is or for what the reason is-american soldiers would never take over thier own people. And we we never get rid of guns. But thier has to be some rational discussion as to stop these mass shootings that are on the rise. The NRA's position is that this a by procduct of the 2nd amendment-that is BS. Paul Ryan voted YES on the following a few days ago: Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. National cross-state standard for concealed carry. Why do we need to make as easy as possiple to arm crazy people.
 @snoopy84  @Sovereign You are dead wrong on the army issue. Let me educate you a little, for real.Â
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One of the things they actually train you for in the army is domestic population control. It is made quite clear that if the chain of command orders you to shoot a civilian during a domestic deployment - you do it.Â
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All enemies, foreign and domestic. Remember Kent State?
People want the government to pass laws taking away people's rights to have guns. Just remember that people will always have guns regardless of what the government wants.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngsKzdKNAmo&
Oldy but a goody!!!!
The third shooting in 3 weeks. But of course guns dont kill people, people kill people. Guns are good, we need to arm more people. You cant take away all the guns crimionals will still get them. ad infinitum.
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B.S!!!!
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Enough is enough. It is time America has a serious discussion on amending the 2nd amendment so that these killing machines are taken away from the general population. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
@EMDF9A Yeah, disarm people so they cannot defend themselves. What a totalitarian you are. And that strategy works so well in places like Mexico and Russia. Good luck with removing the second
@EMDF9A Bs is right, if you take guns away from law abiding citizens then the criminal wins and you make law abiding citizens criminals. So give it up, I have the right to protect myself, something we all know the police can not do
 @EMDF9A Yeah let's take the guns away so that people who are hellbent on killing a bunch of people will use explosives instead. [/sarcasm]
 @EMDF9A Before it was guns, it was swords, before that it was rocks.
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All through there were people. If you want to be a coward, that is your choice, but don't expect the rest of us to die willingly at a killers hands just because of your fears.
I have never seen a semi-automatic sword nor a multi round compound bow.
 @EMDF9A That was dumb.
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A sword can kill more people then a gun. It never needs to be reloaded, it can't run out of ammo, it won't overheat - you just keep going until someone stops you - like any weapon
BS is right. If banned nut jobs would still get them on the Black Market. Don't be a fool and take the time to educate yourself. You want to be upset with someone try his parents. GUNS are not the problem society is!!!!!!!!!
So I guess this nutcase would have rather been killed than to move out of his home.
From local station KBTX website "The conflict began when an officer was reportedly serving eviction paperwork, and shots were fired at law enforcement."
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infowars.com
More gun control nuts! See how well it works in New York and California
 @Nic Stevens works great in Japan, and the UK, and all the other countries with sane gun laws who are not in the pockets of the NRA aka gun manufacturer's lobby.  Â
 DT  Oh yeah, the violent crime rate in Europe is just sooooo much better with their gun laws.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5712573/UK-is-violent-crime-capital-of-Europe.html
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Those Limeys are sure a peace loving bunch ain't they?
 @DT Except in the UK they use knives primarily. They still kill each other.
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So tell me how the gun laws in the UK stop all the killers from using knives?
 @DT My forefathers didn't fight for the freedoms (or lack of) for the countries that you speak of. This country is based on a constitution that men and women have died to defend.
@DT Gun control laws are not why Japan has a low incidence in gun violence, it's a cultural thing. Do you have any references for UK? I've heard that the picture gun control advocates paint of the UK is not reality (I've never been there myself.). The US is a much different country culturally which is why the same laws in Japan won't work in the US. If every gun was confiscated in the US people would come up with other weapons to use. In the US gun control laws only serve to remove guns from law abiding citizens. The shooter in CO was a coward, as evidenced by his immediate surrender when the police had shown up. If just 1 person was legally carrying in the movie theater we might see fewer casualties.
Another gun free zone... I see that is working out so well for the people who choose not to follow the law.
 @JeepRex This wasn't a "gun free" zone, it was at his home. Your logic is flawed.
 @Qchris When the story first broke, the news said it was at the college, hence my comment.
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@JeepRex And emergancy rooms get an annual toll of what "law abiding" gun owners get up to as well. Face it, too many guns in circulation and the public WILL tire of the toll. Rightfully so.
@Citizen#3457899654 What the hell are you saying? I speak English pretty well and your comment is non-sensical.
People said after the movie theater shooting that if more people had had guns, they could have taken the shooter out and saved lives. This is a common thing to say. People said the same after Tucson and they said the same thing after Virginia Tech.
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So now we know that an officer was killed. This officer had a gun and it did not prevent his/her death and he/she did not take the shooter out.
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I'm not arguing for or against gun control, all I am saying is that this argument that more guns= safer is a crock of bs. Â Â
 @caphillkid On the other side of that crock is the thought that less guns is safer.
 @caphillkid soo .. umm why are we arming the police ?Â
Agree
 @caphillkid It didn't help the one officer that was caught off guard, but the cop that shot this DB prevented him from killing anyone else.
 @DarkParty Yeah except for the other person killed and the three others injured, your logic makes sense. /Sarcasm
@Qchris @DarkParty The other person (besides the sherif) killed was his wife and she was shot by police. The pistol used by the shooter was the sheriffs own duty weapon.