COLLEGE STATION, TX (RNN) – Three have been killed and many injured after a gunman opened fire just blocks away from Texas A&M University on Monday.
Police confirmed two have died, including one civilian and a constable.
Local station KBTX and KHOU in Houston reported the suspect had also been killed, citing the College Station Police Department. Police confirmed shortly before the report the suspect had been shot by police.
No information was released about the suspect or his or her possible motive for the shooting.
Constable Brian Bachmann, 41, was pronounced dead at an area hospital shortly after he was shot. Bachmann was a 19 year veteran of the Bravos County Sheriff’s Department.
Police were unsure why the constable responded to the call, although witnesses told KBTX the constable had arrived to evict the shooter. The shooter, who they call a man, allegedly shot Bachmann five times before going through his pockets.
When police arrived on the scene, Bachmann was already down in the suspect’s yard.
“We’re trying to understand why this tragedy has occurred,” said Scott McCollum, assistant chief of the College Station Police Department.
Officers responded to a call of shots fired and were met with gunfire on the scene, just blocks from Texas A&M. They called additional officers and ended up shooting the gunman, according to McCollum.
Officers attempted to perform CPR on Bachmann before he was transported to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
Another officer was shot in the leg and is in stable condition. A third officer suffered non-life threatening injuries and a second civilian was in surgery because of her wounds.
Witness reports indicate the scene was active for approximately half an hour.
Police also said that the area, which is just blocks from campus and near Kyle Field, the football stadium, has been secured.
A witness, Will Hatheway, told KBTX that he heard 30 shots fired. He also said that police officers were taking cover behind their vehicles and ordering residents back into their homes.
It is unclear whether or not there is more than one suspect.
“We have no information right now that leads us to believe there is another suspect that’s involved in this,” said Jon Agnew, public information officer for the Bryan Police Department. “This happened in a residential area, it didn’t move from the residential area.”
Police scanner traffic said a mass casualty situation has been declared.
Various local media outlets reported that the shooter was firing an automatic weapon from a house.
Around 1:39 p.m. ET, the college issued a “Code Maroon” alert telling students, faculty and staff to stay away from a neighborhood just blocks from the campus because of an active shooter situation.
At 1:44 p.m., the website stated that police had the shooter in custody, but advised everyone to continue to avoid the area.
This is the fourth mass shooting incident in the country in four weeks.
On July 17, Nathan Van Wilkins allegedly opened fire on the Copper Top Bar in Tuscaloosa, AL, injuring 17. Fortunately, no one was killed.
A gunman opened fire in a movie theater in Aurora, CO, at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises on July 20. James Holmes, who is in custody, is accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 people.
On Aug. 5 in Oak Creek, WI, a gunman with ties to white supremacists groups walked into a Sikh Temple and opened fire, killing six before shooting and killing himself.
http://www.19actionnews.com/story/19265000/3-killed-in-mass-shooting-near-texas-am
Article Courtesy of WOIO 19 Action News
