Published: June 24, 2008 12:00 am            

Rangers investigate chase, shooting

The Texas Rangers continue their investigation into Thursday’s high-speed chase that ended at a Huntsville business and a Brenham man shooting himself when cornered.

According to Texas Ranger Steve Jeter, lead investigator in the case, additional information concerning both the chase and the death of 21-year-old Casey F. Brunette will not be available until later this week.

“I’m still in the process of conducting initial interviews and things of that nature,” Jeter said Monday. “It will probably be Thursday or Friday before any additional information can be released to the public.”

Jeter said five different law enforcement departments based in Walker County and Montgomery County were involved at different stages of the pursuit, which began in Montgomery County around 5 p.m. Thursday.

A spokeswoman at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston’s Texas Medical center said Brunette died at 8:40 a.m. Friday after being airlifted to the hospital in critical condition following the pursuit.

Initial reports indicate that Brunette shot himself behind the left ear when he could not escape officers.

Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety in Austin, said law enforcement officers began pursuing Brunette in Montgomery County after he had been involved in an altercation with his girlfriend.

“He and his girlfriend had some kind of altercation during which he made threats against her,” Mange said. “The girlfriend contacted police and reported those threats, and there was a message sent out to local officers with a description of his vehicle.”

Lt. Dan Norris, public information officer for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, said a Montgomery Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted Brunette’s maroon Chevrolet pickup truck on Farm-to-Market Road 1097 as it traveled east into Willis.

“Once Brunette realized there was a pursuit, he started fleeing,” Mange said. “The constables tried to pull him over but he wouldn’t comply.”

Mange said additional law enforcement agencies and officers from Montgomery County joined the case, trying to get Brunette to pull over.

Prior to entering Walker County, Brunette shot out the back window of his truck and began firing at the pursuing law enforcement vehicles.

When entering Walker County, Department of Public Safety troopers, Walker County sheriff’s deputies and Huntsville police joined in the pursuit, also exchanged gunfire with Brunette, Mange said.

Brunette continued through Walker County into Huntsville, traveling from Interstate 45 to state Highway 75 South onto Sam Houston Avenue.

During the chase, a car driven by Sam Houston State University assistant basketball coach Jamene Caldwell was damaged, but Caldwell was not injured.

When Brunette hit a dead end at Janes Asphalt and Concrete Paving, located on 16th Street, he attempted to escape but finally came to a halt when his truck struck a Montgomery deputy constable’s vehicle.

Mange said there was another round of gunfire exchanged before Brunette shot himself in the head around 5:30 p.m.

        

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