At least one person was killed and five others injured in a shooting in a furniture store in Bryan, Texas, Thursday, police said.
The alleged gunman, identified by authorities late Thursday evening as Larry Bollin, a 27-year-old Kent Moore Cabinet employee, was arrested after a manhunt that ended in the tiny town of Iola, about 30 miles from the Bryan Police Department said.
Bollin, from Iola, has been charged with murder and is on $ 1 million bail according to prison records. The authorities said his motive is still being investigated.
One person died on the scene and four others were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, authorities said. A sixth person suffered a minor injury. Another person was rushed to hospital after an asthma attack, Bryan police chief Eric Buske said in a news conference early Thursday evening.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said on Twitter that a soldier was shot while chasing a person allegedly involved in Bryan’s shooting. The soldier was reported in severe but stable condition.
Texas governor Greg Abbott said in a statement that he “prayed for the victims and their families, as well as the injured law enforcement officer, while he was arresting the suspect”.
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Texas Senator Ted Cruz also prayed for the victims, he said on Twitter.
The Bryan shooting occurred the day after a shootout that left six people dead in Rock Hill, South Carolina – including the shooter, former NFL player Phillip Adams – and, over the past three weeks, high-profile mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado and California took place killing 22 people.
Earlier Thursday, President Joe Biden revealed his first major steps in the fight against gun violence, an announcement Abbott described on Twitter as “a new liberal takeover of our guns.”
“We are NOT going to let this happen in TX,” Abbott said hours before offering his prayers to the victims of the Bryan shooting.
Kent Moore Cabinets, a custom cabinet maker who, according to its website, employs more than 600 people across the state, said in a statement he was “devastated”. The company is fully cooperating with the police “while investigating this terrible crime,” said Vice President Teresa Galliher.
The shooting took place in the bays of a factory where employees make cabinets.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has sent agents and dogs to the scene, spokesman Deon Washington said. Couldn’t describe what happened in more detail and said, “It’s a pretty rapidly evolving situation.”
Bryan is adjacent to College Station, home of Texas A&M University with nearly 90,000 residents. It is approximately 100 miles east of Austin and 100 miles northwest of Houston.
Contributor: The Associated Press