Police: Employee kills 1, wounds 5 at Texas cabinet business
BRYAN, Texas (NewsNation Now) — A man opened fire Thursday at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and seriously wounding a state trooper prior to his arrest, authorities said.
Larry Winston Bollin, 27, of Iola, Texas, was booked into the Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan late Thursday, according to a Bryan Police Department statement. Jail records showed Bollin was charged with murder and being held on a $1 million bond. No attorney was listed for Bollin in the jail record.
Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the shooting suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location where the shooting happened. He said investigators believe the man was solely responsible for the attack, which happened around 2:30 p.m., and that he was gone by the time officers arrived.
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. During the manhunt for the suspect, he shot and wounded a state trooper, who was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Twitter.
The gunman apparently acted alone using a handgun, but a motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, Buske said. He said the suspect, who has not been identified, was gone by the time officers arrived.
Police say there were seven victims in total at the scene in Bryan: one killed, four in critical condition transported to the hospital, one with minor injuries transported for treatment, and one with a medical event related to the incident.
Witnesses on the scene told NewsNation reporter Jennifer Sanders they started running outside when they heard shots ring out. One employee said it appeared the shooter was targeting specific people at the cabinet making business, not firing at random.
One employee said he came face to face with the shooter, who he described as a quiet person “you wouldn’t expect to do this type of stuff.”
“I look over here, people are running this way, I turn around and he literally like faces me, we make eye to eye contact,” the witness recalled. “The dude that worked on the other side of him… he basically turned away from me to shoot him.”
Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said the suspected shooter was arrested in Bedias, a tiny community about 25 miles northeast of Bryan.
Investigators were still trying to determine the motive for the attack, authorities said.
When Kent Moore Cabinets employees were interviewed, witnesses identified a suspect, Bryan Police Lt. Jason James said before the suspect’s capture.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent agents and dogs to the scene of the shooting, said spokesman Deon Washington.
Kent Moore Cabinets is headquartered in Bryan and employs more than 600 people across the state, according to the company’s website. The company makes custom cabinets and has design centers in neighboring College Station and nearly a dozen Texas cities.
A person who answered the phone Thursday at Kent Moore Cabinets’ headquarters said she could not provide any information on the shooting.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered prayers for shooting victims and their families:
“I have been working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers as they assist local law enforcement on a swift response to this criminal act. Their efforts led to the arrest of the shooting suspect. The state will assist in any way needed to help prosecute the suspect. Cecilia and I are praying for the victims and their families and for the law enforcement officer injured while apprehending the suspect.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate KWKT’s Jessica Rivera contributed to this report.