UTB-TSC closes campus in response to Matamoros shootout

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College police shutdown the campus after bullets from a shooting incident in Matamoros struck a building and a parked car on campus.

The campus will remain closed on Saturday.

"Due to a shooting incident on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River and to the lateness of the day, the campus will be closing early. Employees and students are encouraged to leave the campus and to please avoid the University Boulevard area," said a statement on the campus Web site.

UTB-TSC Police Lt. Armando Pullido said students were being asked to avoid buildings on the south side of the university campus.

"We’re closing down the campus at 5 p.m.," Pullido said. "Students are being asked to leave."

UTB-TSC Public Information Director Letty Fernandez confirms a bullet struck the Recreation, Education and Kinesiology building, also known as the REK building, and a car at the Life and Health Sciences Building.

The shooting reportedly began around 1:30 this afternoon near Calle Primera and Calle Canales. Neighbors in the area tell The Brownsville Herald they heard gunshots and loud explosions for over an hour.

The shooting then is said to have continued to the intersection of Calle Nicaragua and Calle Acapulco in Colonia Delicias. It was there the Mexican Army seized a refrigerator from a home in the area.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Supervisor Eddie Perez says none of the international bridges between Brownsville and Matamoros were closed.

As a precaution the university moved the Scorpion's men's soccer game with Southern Nazarene to the Brownsville Sports Park.

Friday's scheduled game between Southern Nazarene and the University of St. Thomas was also re-located to the Brownsville Sports Park, with a scheduled start time of 9 p.m.

Fernandez says the university has decided to keep the school, including the Arnulfo Oliveira Library, closed on Saturday. 

For more on this developing story, stay with The Brownsville Herald.