College Station gunman bought weapons locally

Thomas Caffall

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The man who killed a constable and a civilian in a shooting in College Station bought weapons at a local gun shop.

The president of Champion Firearms in College Station told Local 2 Investigates he did not remember that Thomas Caffall had been one of his customers until he saw the his name released by the media. Mike Stulce said when he saw Caffall's name, he immediately began checking records of firearm sales and discovered Caffall purchased two guns from his business.

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"When the name was released of the shooter, we decided to go ahead and look that up and then ATF called shortly after that, so we knew," said Stulce.

Stulce said, according his businesses records, Caffall purchased an antique Russian-made rifle and a Glock handgun. Stulce said his store also handled the transfer of a scoped rifle Caffall bought through an online broker.

Stulce said Caffall passed all federally-required background checks.

It is still not known where Caffall purchased what he described in picture on Facebook as a Czecholosvakian rifle.

College Station police would only comment that they seized "long guns and pistols" from the scene.

"That's the thing, it makes you wonder what can be done," said Stulce.

Stulce seemed surprised that neither he nor anyone on his staff really remembered dealing with Caffall, or whether he used the business' firing range for target practice.

However, Stulce said he fondly remembers Constable Brian Bachmann, who was killed while serving Caffall with a notice to appear in court on an eviction notice.

"He was one of the good guys. In fact, if you never really knew him, you really missed out because he was a heck of a guy," said Stulce. "He was a good model for law enforcement. He was one of those guys that you were glad that he was a peace officer."

Caffall was behind on rent

Local 2 has also learned that Caffall was two months behind in his rent.

According to Brazos County Justice of the Peace Michael McCleary, Caffall owed two months back rent for a total of $1,250.

McCleary also said Caffall was not in danger of actually being evicted from his home the day of the shooting. McCleary said that Caffall was being served with a summons to appear in court on Aug. 23 to answer to a notice to evict.

Brazos County Justice of the Peace court records show a property management company in Bryan filed a forcible entry detainer against Caffall, which triggered the court summons.

McCleary said given the court process regarding evictions, the earliest Caffall could have been evicted was Aug. 29.

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Thomas Caffall was identified as the gunman who opened fire on officers and bystanders, killing two.


About the Author:

Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”