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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.

For nearly 30 minutes police exchanged shots with Caffall as a neighbor, a former Army medic, waited with frustration for the all-clear so he could tend to the injured constable.

Bachmann, a police instructor, one-time Officer of the Year and a married father of two, had been mortally wounded. So was Chris Northcliff, 43, of College Station, who was outside and apparently caught up in the gunfire.

Caffall too was shot and later died at a hospital.

Police wouldn't speculate on what sparked the shooting and it wasn't immediately clear who shot whom.

"We're trying to make some sense of this," College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum said.

A neighbor and former medic, Rigo Cisneros, called 911 when he heard the shooting. In video shot on his cellphone showing police officers running into the house, Cisneros, 40, can be heard asking an officer if an ambulance is coming and if he can meanwhile tend to Bachmann's wounds. The officer tells Cisneros he must wait until the shooting scene is secure.

Cisneros told The Bryan-College Station Eagle that by the time he was allowed to approach Bachmann's body, it was too late.

"I performed CPR. There were no vital signs on the constable when I got there," he said. "He took one clear gunshot wound to the chest."

Cisneros said he also went to Caffall, who was shot several times but still conscious.

"I was asking him questions, like if he knew he was allergic to anything," Cisneros said. "He looked up at me and asked me to apologize to the officer that was shot."

Details about Caffall were slow to emerge.

Officials at Texas A&M, the 50,000-student school that dominates the city 100 miles northwest of Houston, said he was neither a student nor school employee. Police said he had been renting the home where he was staying.

Caffall's sister said Monday night that the family was shocked by the violence.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and this is just a senseless tragedy," said Courtney Clark, reached Monday evening at her mother's home in Navasota, about 20 miles to the south. "We are just distraught by the havoc that he has caused."

She declined additional comment.

Besides the three fatalities, a 55-year-old woman also was wounded and was hospitalized in serious condition. Her name had not been released by Monday evening.

Another officer, Justin Oehlke, was treated for a gunshot wound in the calf and was in stable condition, police spokeswoman Rhonda Seaton said. Two other officers — Brad Smith and Phil Dorsett — were treated for "shrapnel injuries" and released, Seaton said.

Bachmann was well respected and "very close to everyone in law enforcement," McCollum said. "He was a pillar in this community, and it's sad and tragic that we've lost him today."

Bachmann had worked more than 19 years in law enforcement, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. He had been a constable since January 2011.

Constables are law enforcement officers similar to sheriff's deputies who are elected to serve in specific county precincts. They primarily serve civil warrants and official paperwork or act as courtroom bailiffs.

Officers lined up to salute Monday afternoon as Bachmann's body was moved from a hospital and placed into a white van for transfer to a funeral home.

Texas A&M issued an emergency alert warning students and residents to stay clear of the area although most students weren't on campus because the fall semester doesn't start until later this month.

Diana Harbourt, 27, whose house is about a block away, said she had just come home for lunch when she and her boyfriend heard five loud popping sounds.

"I just thought it was somebody moving wood or stacking something," Harbourt said. "Then we heard more sirens and more officers and fire trucks came and they were keeping their distance, kind of slowly moving in. More officers showed up and told us to stay inside. ... The fear didn't hit me until after the fact, especially when I found a bullet hole in front of my house."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an A&M alumnus, said at an event in Florida that his "prayers are with any of those that have been injured." A&M President R. Bowen Loftin issued a statement calling Monday a "sad day in the Bryan-College Station community."

Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Nomaan Merchant in Dallas and Melissa Nelson-Gabriel in Destin, Fla., contributed to this report.

 An attorney for the family of a gunman who was among three people killed in a shootout at a home near Texas A&M University says the gunman had been suffering from "mental issues."

Attorney W. Tyler Moore declined to elaborate on Tuesday what kind of mental problems 35-year-old Thomas Alton Caffall III had.

Moore said Caffall's family had lost contact with him since the spring. Moore says he had known Caffall since he was 4 years old and that "he wasn't the same kid that he used to be."

Police say Caffall opened fire Monday from inside his College Station home as he was being served an eviction notice. A law enforcement officer and a bystander were also killed in the shootout. Four people were injured.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — A funeral will be held Saturday at Texas A&M University for a law officer gunned down nearby while serving an eviction notice.

The College Station Police Department on Wednesday announced arrangements for Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann.

Bachmann was killed Monday by suspect Thomas Caffall III. Other officers fatally shot Caffall.

A bystander checking some property was also shot to death. Three police officers and a female bystander were wounded.

Viewing has been scheduled Friday evening at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station.

Bachmann's funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reed Arena, which has a total seating capacity of 12,500.

Officer Rhonda Seaton says both remembrances are open to the public.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a Central Texas woman aiming for a skunk accidentally shot her husband when the bullet ricocheted.

Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk says the husband was expected to be released Monday from a Houston hospital. Kirk says the accident happened Sunday night at the family's house near College Station. The husband was inside.

The sheriff says the wife, who has a concealed handgun permit, came out of the home's detached garage and saw a skunk. Kirk says the woman fired a .45-caliber handgun at the animal but missed.

Kirk says the bullet ricocheted off a deck, went through the house's closed back door and struck the husband in the abdomen. Kirk says the bullet did not damage any vital organs.

Kirk declined to release the names of the couple.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M is entering a new conference with a new coach. And Wednesday night, the Aggies decided on a new quarterback, too.

Former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin said Johnny Manziel will start Texas A&M's opener against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 30 as the Aggies prepare for their first season in the Southeastern Conference. He'll replace Ryan Tannehill, the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft.

Manziel, a redshirt freshman and sophomores Jameill Showers and Matt Joeckel had been vying for the chance to lead Sumlin's high-powered offense. Showers is the only one of the three to have thrown a pass for the Aggies, but his experience is extremely limited. He appeared in three games last season and was 4 for 5 for 40 yards.

But he was edged by Manziel, a Parade All-American after throwing for 3,609 yards with 45 touchdowns and only five interceptions as a senior at Kerrville Tivy.

"Johnny has performed the best at this stage and we will proceed until the season opener with him getting the first-team reps," Sumlin said. "My policy is simple really; the best player plays. Competition is a great thing and we need more competition at all of our positions. All of our quarterbacks have competed well, and I expect them to continue to push Johnny."

Tannehill took over at quarterback for Texas A&M midway through the 2010 season and threw for 3,744 yards and 29 touchdowns last year in his only full season.

The good news for Manziel is that he'll play behind an experienced line led by left tackle Luke Joeckel and a pair of senior receivers in Ryan Swope and Uzoma Nwachukwu.

Swope led the Aggies last season with 89 receptions for 1,207 and 11 touchdowns and Nwachukwu added 639 yards receiving with two scores.

A boost to the offense will be the return of Christine Michael, who has seen his last two seasons end prematurely after breaking his leg in 2010 and tearing an anterior cruciate ligament last season. He ran for 899 yards and eight touchdowns last season before the injury.

Sumlin was hired at Texas A&M after Mike Sherman was fired following a 6-6 regular season. Though Sumlin is known for the offenses he led at Houston, he knows that he'll have to shore up Texas A&M's defense if he hopes to succeed in the SEC. He has just five returning defensive starters this season.

He said he believes his players want to live up to the storied history of past defenses at the school including the "Wrecking Crew" heyday of the late 1980s and early '90s.

"Anytime you're playing defense at Texas A&M you have a standard," Sumlin said. "From where I sit, I think that you have to have some sort of motivating factor based on the tradition of excellence on defense in the past. Everybody since the '80s and '90s has tried to meet that standard. That's a bigger motivational standard than anything. That's a huge goal and there's been a lot of people that have tried to do it here recently and I don't know that that's happened."

The Aggies are switching from 3-4 scheme to the 4-3 under first-year defensive coordinator Mark Snyder. A leader of the group will be senior linebacker Sean Porter, who led the team with 9 1/2 sacks last season.

"I don't think we're going to struggle in the first year at all," Porter said. "I think we're a pretty good defense. From what I can see we have a solid defense and we're going to be able to compete in the SEC."

After opening with Louisiana Tech, the Aggies play their first SEC game when they host Florida on Sept. 8.

Sumlin isn't focusing on A&M's opponents right now.

"I think the biggest thing that we have to try to deal with is not Louisiana Tech, is not the schedule, we have to deal with us," he said. "Before we start talking about opponents, we need to start talking about what kind of things we have to do to get better."

He said he is most concerned with improving the team's turnover margin after the Aggies finished last year 106th in the country. Texas A&M also was one of the most penalized teams.

"Those are things that we can deal with internally," he said. "Those are things that we need to address before we get going and talking about other people."

Four of Texas A&M's six losses last year were by a combined 10 points, including a 53-50, four-overtime loss to Kansas State. Sumlin wants to teach his team how to handle playing in close games.

"We have to deal with our mental edge," he said. "Where we are right now as a team, as a program coming out of last year and the expectation level ... of this football team. (Teach them) how to prepare, how to play and how to close out football games."