Three die in shootout near Texas A&M

Three people were killed today in a midday shootout two blocks from Texas A&M University in College Station.

Brian Bachmann, a longtime Brazos County constable, was fatally shot from inside a house, Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum said at a news briefing.

The gunman, 35-year-old Thomas Alton Caffall, was shot by police, said Jay Socol, spokesman for the City of College Station. He died in custody.

The third victim was not immediately identified.

Two officers were treated for "non-life-threatening" injuries and a civilian woman was having surgery, Socol said.

College Station police were investigating why Bachmann was at the home and what prompted the shootout, McCollum said.

McCollum said his department and several other agencies are interviewing "many, many different witnesses" and sifting through "multiple crime scenes" to try piece together details of the incident.

"It's very chaotic, and we're gathering a whole lot of information," McCollum said.

Texas A&M spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll said most students were not on campus Monday. The fall semester begins Aug. 27.

The shooting occurred just two blocks from George Bush Drive, a street that borders campus and is lined with restaurants and shops frequented by students, said Kathryn Greenwade, spokeswoman for the Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University.

As the university sent out text-message alerts and tweets warning faculty and staff of the shooting, officials at the association, a quarter-mile from where the shooting took place, locked the building's doors and directed the staff to stay put, Greenwade said. The proximity of the shooting was unnerving, she said.

"It hits close to home," she said.