Texas workplace shooting: 1 dead and multiple people shot, including state trooper; suspect charged with murder
A suspected gunman in Texas who killed at least one person and wounded five others at cabinet manufacturer was being held Friday on a $1 million bond and charged with murder after he opened fire at the company where he had worked.
Authorities in Texas said Larry Bollin, 27, was arrested Thursday after a manhunt and could face additional charges stemming from the shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan, Texas.
The Bryan Police Department said it would release the name of the person killed on Friday. The shooter’s motive was not immediately known.
A Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper was also shot during the manhunt. Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Craig Cummings told reporters Thursday that the trooper was in stable condition but required surgery.
Here’s what we know Friday:
What happened during the Bryan shooting?
Bryan police responded to reports of a shooting around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived on the scene, one person was dead and five others were wounded. Four were in critical condition and a fifth had a non-life-threatening injury. A sixth person was having an asthma attack and was also taken to a local hospital, Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske said.
The suspect had left the scene when officers arrived, police said.
Cummings told reporters that the trooper was shot around 3:30 p.m. as he and other law enforcement officials were attempting to take the suspect into custody in the town of Iola, about 30 miles from the cabinet plant
The suspect was taken into custody around 4:20 p.m. near the town of Bedias by Texas Highway Patrol troopers, Cummings said.
An employee from a local business talks on her phone after police released her from the scene of a mass shooting at an industrial park in Bryan, Texas on April 8, 2021. (Photo: SAM CRAFT, AFP via Getty Images)
Who are the victims?
Police have not identified the person who was killed or the injured.
Two of the five people who were wounded at the business were hospitalized in critical condition, while three others were in serious but stable condition, according to a hospital statement.
The trooper who was injured underwent surgery and was stable as of Thursday night, Cummings said.
Who is the suspect?
Bollin, of Iola, is facing at least one murder charge, according to online court records.
Bryan police said Bollin is an employee of Kent Moore Cabinets but a motive was not immediately known.
No attorney for Bollin was listed on online court records.
More about Kent Moore Cabinets
Kent Moore Cabinets opened its first store in the 1970s in Texas and now has a staff of nearly 600 employees across the state, the company’s website says.
“We continue to strive to build the best custom cabinets specifically designed for discriminating homeowners,” the company’s website says.
On Facebook, the company wrote that it was “devastated by the tragic events” at the plant in Bryan. “Our thoughts are with our workers and their families, and we ask that you join us in keeping everyone touched by this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers”.
The plant is located about 100 miles northwest of Houston and is near Texas A&M University.
What has the reaction been?
The shooting occurred just a day after a former NFL player opened fire at a South Carolina home, killing five people, including two children.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, it is the 14th mass shooting in the U.S. in April. The archive defines mass shooting as four or more people injured or killed, not including the shooter, and includes all mass shootings, not just those in public places.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement that he was “praying for the victims and their families and for the law enforcement officer injured while apprehending the suspect.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also was praying for the victims, he said on Twitter.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Follow USA TODAY’s Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller
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