Three killed in shooting near Texas Univ in US

Houston, Aug 14: A man gunned down two people, including a constable, near a Texas university and was himself killed in the

incident, police said.

The three persons killed on Monday in the shooting near the Texas A&M University included Brian Bachmann, a Brazos County constable, apart from the gunman himself and an unidentified civilian, authorities said.

A post on the city of College Station's official Twitter page identified this third victim as a "civilian bystander."

Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum confirmed that two people have died following the shooting in a residential neighbourhood near Texas A&M.

"It's very chaotic. We ask the public to be patient," McCollum said, describing the scene at the site of the incident.

Three others were injured in the shooting. They included two law enforcement officers and a female civilian who was undergoing surgery at a hospital, McCollum said.

McCollum earlier said that multiple people had been shot in the incident, which occurred around noon just a few blocks from the Texas A&M campus.

The law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene engaged the suspected gunman, eventually shooting him and taking him into custody, police said.

Jason James, an officer with the Bryan police department, said, "there is a possibility that it was an eviction."

He said police started receiving 911 calls after officers had arrived on the scene, rather than officers responding to a shooting that neighbours told them about.

"It's not like a disturbance where they were actually dispatched to it. They weren't responding to a shooting, but it turned into one," James said.

He said earlier in the 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."

Officer Jon Agnew with the Bryan Police Department - a community that's adjacent to College Station -- noted the shooting occurred in a "residential area."

Around 12:29 pm, the university administration issued a safety warning for the students after a report of an "active shooter."

An update posted on the university's website around 12:44 pm indicated that the suspected shooter was by then "in custody."

Texas A&M spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll, however, could not confirm details about the shooting, but said most students were not on campus yesterday and the fall semester does not begin until Aug 27.

"It appeared to be fairly quiet, it didn't appear to be a lot of people out and about at that particular time," she said.

College Station is about 90 miles north-west of Houston and the university is home to more than 50,000 students.

The incident occurred days after shooting in a Gurdwara in Wisconsin that left six persons belonging to the Sikh community dead.

PTI