BRYAN, Texas (Nexstar) — Three hours after authorities identified 40-year-old Timothy Smith as the man killed in a shooting at a cabinet store, his sister said his family was stunned to learn he was gone.
“We’re all still in shock,” Brittany Jackl said from Jacksonville, Florida. “I don’t think it’s really all hit us yet.”
Smith was at Kent Moore Cabinets on Thursday when one of his colleagues, identified by Bryan Police as Larry Bollin, 27, shot him and 5 others. The Texas Department of Public Safety revealed Trooper Juan Rojas Tovar of the Madisonville Texas Highway Patrol office, was shot during the apprehension of the suspect. As of noon Friday, three people were still in the hospital, including Tovar.
“Trooper Tovar remains in serious but stable condition,” the department shared on social media Friday morning. “He is currently receiving outstanding care, surrounded by his family and friends while his fellow troopers hold watch.”
Texas DPS added that two people were in critical condition, and two other victims are stable.
Police did not know a motive for the mass shooting in the hours after Bollin’s arrest. According to Bryan PD, Bollin was arrested by DPS in Grimes County, charged with murder and booked into the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.
“My brother was a good, loving man, and nobody deserves that, nobody,” Jackl said about her brother’s death. “It’s not okay.”
“I don’t understand why my nephews now have to grow up without a daddy,” Jackl said of his 14- and 8-year-old sons. “I don’t think I’m ever going to understand that.”
Smith has two sons from a previous marriage and lived in Bryan with his wife of two years, according to Jackl. His father lives in Mineola, Texas, a 170-mile drive north.
Jackl said her brother loved working at the cabinet store.
“He’s worked there for a couple years,” she explained. “He was actually super excited to work there.”
“He used to send me Snapchats all the time from work, saying, ‘This is where I work and this is who I work with.’ He was honestly proud of where he worked, and I was proud of him,” Jackl said.
Kent Moore Cabinets released a statement on the shooting, calling the events that took place at the facility “devastating.”
“Our hearts go out to the families and the loved ones of those affected,” the statement read in part. “We want to thank the many members of our law enforcement teams and other emergency personnel who responded so quickly. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement during the investigation of this horrible crime.”
“We ask that you respect the privacy of the family members of those who were involved,” the statement continued. “Right now, our focus is on providing support to and prayers for our employees and the extended Kent Moore Cabinets family during this tragic time.”
Jackl said the marriage between her brother and his wife was “sickeningly sweet.”
“It’s almost annoying, like teenagers in love, the way that they talk to each other, the way they treat each other,” she explained. “They were just madly in love with each other and excited about their life and starting a family.”
And while Smith’s family makes arrangements to travel to town for his funeral, his sister said despite the many unknowns about his death, she believes she knows what he was thinking when he passed away.
“I know my brother, and I know what his last thoughts were. I know the last thing he was thinking about was his wife and his kids,” she said. “And I know that his heart was good, and I know where he is, and I know that he will see them again one day. But from there, I don’t know much else.”
On Friday afternoon, a Brazos County judge set shooting suspect Larry Bollin’s bond at a total of $2.2 million — $1.2 million for Smith’s murder and another $1 million for the attempted murder of Trooper Tovar.
Bollin also faces five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in relation to the shooting.