HOUSTON – A man who killed a constable serving an eviction notice, a civilian and wounded two others was described by relatives Monday as a "ticking time bomb."
Police named 35-year-old Thomas Caffall as the man who shot and killed a constable, another man and wounded several others during a 30 minute gun battle.
Caffall opened fire in the 200 block of Fidelity in College Station shortly before 12:30 p.m., just as Brazos County Precinct 1 Constable Brian Bachmann was serving an eviction notice.
After Bachmann was shot, College Station police officers responded to the scene and one of them was shot. Two other officers were hurt while responding to the scene, but they were not shot, police said.
Two civilians were also shot. One of them, 43-year-old Chris Northcliff, was killed. A 55-year-old woman, who sources identified as Barbara Holdsworth, was in critical condition after undergoing surgery.
KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold tracked down Caffall's family on Monday afternoon, and Richard Weaver, his stepfather, said he was not shocked that Caffall was involved.
"We are devastated for the families that this SOB killed," said Weaver. "He was a ticking time bomb."
Arnold asked Weaver if he had any indication that something like this was coming.
"He was crazy as hell," Weaver said. "At one point, we were afraid that he was going to come up here and do something to his mother and me."
"We were hoping he'd kill himself before doing something like this," said Weaver. "We are just devastated for the families this SOB killed."
Weaver could not elaborate on exactly what pushed Caffall to this point, but did say he was aware of the eviction. Weaver said Caffall had not spoken to his mother in several months.
Weaver said Caffall quit his job about nine months ago and proclaimed he would never work for anybody again.
On Caffall's Facebook page there were several photos of rifles, but no direct mention that something like Monday's event was brewing in his life.
Caffall was divorced.
Caffall was killed during the shootout with College Station police.
Thomas Caffall was identified as the gunman who opened fire on officers and bystanders, killing two.
