Three dead, including gunman, in Texas university shooting: Police

A gunman and a law enforcement officer were among three people killed Monday in a shooting near a Texas university campus, police said.

A male civilian also was killed, while two other officers and a woman were injured in the shooting near Texas A&M University at College Station, said Bryan Police Department spokesman Jon Agnew. Bryan police are assisting nearby College Station in the investigation. Assistant College Station Police Chief Scott McCollum earlier identified the law enforcement officer killed as Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann.

Agnew said officers had established a perimeter around the area shortly after the shooting just east of campus, but they do not believe a second suspect was involved. He said police don’t know if the shooter was a student at Texas A&M.

The school had issued an alert on its website just before 12:30 p.m. warning of an active shooter near the campus football stadium, Kyle Field.

The gunman fired shots from inside a home about two blocks from the campus, according to the university’s alert. “We have been told to stay put,” said Keith Randall, a Texas A&M employee who was in his office. “They just asked us to stay where we are.” The alert warned residents and students to avoid the area, and was later updated with the shooter taken into custody.

Texas A&M spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll could not confirm details about the shooting, but said most students were not on campus Monday. The fall semester does not begin until Aug. 27. “It appeared to be fairly quiet,” Carroll said of campus. “It didn’t appear to be a lot of people out and about at that particular time.”

College Station is about 145 kilometres northwest of Houston. Texas A&M is home to more than 50,000 students, according to its website.

With files from Star wire services

Multiple people shot at Texas university campus

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS—Multiple people, including law enforcement officers, were shot on Monday after a gunman opened fire near Texas A&M University, police in College Station, Texas, said.

“We have multiple people who have been shot,” police spokeswoman Rhonda Seaton told CNN, adding that law enforcement officers had also been shot.

The extent of the injuries was not immediately clear. According to the university’s website, police had the shooting suspect in custody near its campus in College Station.

The university issued an alert on its website just before 12:30 p.m. Monday warning of an active shooter near the campus football stadium, Kyle Field. The warning tells residents and students to avoid the area.

Seaton says the shooting happened within a block or two of campus sometime before 12:45 p.m. She says police have one suspect in custody.

College Station lies northwest of Houston.

Jeremy Lin joins Houston Rockets after New York Knicks decline to match contract offer

According to the New York Times, the New York Knicks have finally decided to let Jeremy Lin sign with the Houston Rockets.

Just a month ago the Knicks fought tooth and nail to win an arbitration case that granted the team “Early Bird” rights for Jeremy Lin, which would allow them to go over the cap and match other team’s offers for him. It would also allow them to use Mid-Level Exception to add further pieces to the roster.

Now the Knicks decide to not match the three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet. Lin was initially expected to sign a four-year deal worth close to $30 million, however Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey decided to tweak the offer-sheet so he had a better chance of getting Lin. The final year of the new deal at $14.9 million is designed to cost the Knicks at least $35 million or more in luxury-tax payments had they matched the deal.

It appears that James Dolan’s Knicks have decided to let him go for purely financial reasons, which is a little surprising considering that they are the second most valuable franchise in the league. This is the same franchise that had the highest operating income in the league.

If it weren’t for Jeremy Lin’s improbable breakout last season, the Knicks would be an afterthought and no one would be talking about them. He saved their season last season and became one of the most popular players in the league.

Now they go into next season with an inferior point guard in Raymond Felton, who like Lin, had success under Mike D’Antoni. He was terrible last season in Portland and was severely out of shape.  Backing him up are two over the hill point guards in Jason Kidd, who obviously didn’t take the Felton trade that well, and Pablo Prigioni, a 35 year old rookie from Argentina.

Keep in mind that this is also the same franchise that paid millions in luxury tax penalties after shelling out a combined $90 million to both Eddy Curry and Jerome James. Why they chose to decline this time is certainly perplexing, especially for someone like Lin that actually helps generate revenue and value to the franchise, but then again, it is the New York Knicks.