COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A law enforcement veteran of 19 years was making what was supposed to be a routine house call to serve an eviction notice at a property near the Texas A&M University campus. But the recipient opened fire and shots were exchanged, leaving him, the police constable and another man mortally wounded.

The spasm of violence Monday left a College Station neighborhood shaken, a tight-knit law enforcement community in mourning and the family of 35-year-old gunman Thomas Alton Caffall distraught.

Just after noon, College Station police began fielding frantic 911 calls about gunfire in the neighborhood near the university's football stadium. Responding officers found 41-year-old Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann shot on the lawn of the house.