Officer fatally shot near Texas A&M; was serving eviction notice

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- A county constable was serving an eviction order when he was killed Monday, prompting a shootout in which the suspected gunman and an unidentified man also died, according to local police.

A police officer and a 55-year-old woman were shot and wounded, and two other police officers also suffered non-life-threatening injuries while responding to reports of the initial shooting, according to College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum.

He was shot by officers who responded to a 911 call of shots fired at a home in a leafy neighborhood near the Texas A&M; University campus shortly after noon, McCollum said at a late afternoon press conference.

The gunman was identified as Thomas Caffall, 35, according to College Station Police spokeswoman Officer Rhonda Seaton.

The gunfire prompted Texas A&M; to issue a Code Maroon warning on its website just before 12:30 p.m., stating that an “active shooter’’ was in the area and warning students and others to stay away.

Brazos County constable Bryan Bachmann was shot by a 35-year-old man at the home, McCollum said. He refused to describe the gunman’s weapon, whether he owned or rented the home, or whether he said anything at the time of the shooting.

McCollum said police “took fire from the suspect’’ and fired back, “neutralizing the threat.’’

He added: “They took cover and defended themselves.’’

The other officer who was shot was treated for a leg wound, said Seaton.

She said one injured officer was treated at the scene and another at a local hospital. Neither had been shot, Seaton said.

Seaton declined to provide information about the circumstances in which a 65-year-old man was shot dead at the scene. She said only that he was shot by the gunman.

The wounded woman was undergoing surgery for at least one bullet wound and was listed in critical but stable condition, she said. No other information about her was released.

Seaton said she believed the gunman was renting the home, and police were seeking information from the home’s owners.

Officers blocked streets surrounding the home on Fidelity Street in College Station’s historic Southside neighborhood and cordoned off several areas with yellow police tape. Officers were investigating “multiple scenes,’’ McCollum said.

“We have a lot of information coming in, a lot of witnesses to secure,” he said.

George Clemenceau, 20, said he was at a nearby house when shots rang out just after noon. He said he could hear the whizzing as bullets passed overhead.

Clemenceau said he saw an older man lying on his back, dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans and work boots. The man appeared to have been shot in the back, he said.

He thought: “That was someone like me that was just out on the street.’’

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