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As a small Texas town mourns over the loss of their fellow church members, details emerge on Gunman and the reasons behind this horrible church massacre. Devin Kelley, 26, opened fire Sunday November 5, 2017 at a Sutherland Springs Baptist Church. Kelley killed around twenty-six people and many still in critical conditions.
For days authorities were searching for the shooters motive, Texas officials said that this rampage was not a racial, or a religious reason. The reason for this massacre had to have a connection to the Church and so it did. On Monday, Devin Kelley who was discharged from the Air-Force due to bad conduct in 2014 took the lives of many innocent people. The Air-Force said they failed to alert law enforcement about his conviction, which meant that he was supposed to be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms according to the Air-Force spokesman, Ann Stefanaek. Kelley had abused his wife and daughter in the past with life threatening injuries, stated on a document released on Monday. Since this information was not updated on the National Criminal Information Data base, he was able to purchase firearms without hesitation. Devin Kelley had purchased four guns since 2014 and most were purchased from retailer Academy Sports. Kelley had passed previous background checks for purchasing the gun and for a security job in 2016 and 2017.
This issue has opened an investigation to ensure that similar issues have been correctly reported.
This young man has had a troubled life with several criminal charges and had become a threat to the community. Devin Kelley’s motive for this horrendous shooting was over a feud he had with his mother in- law, he had sent threatening messages, she attended that church although that Sunday she was not present. A place that is sacred for most became a bloody scene. Bodies laid on the ground as many tried saving the people who were wounded, in those moments the members of a small town church fought for their lives together. Kelley, was shot by a local man of the community which heard what was happening in the Church and took matters into his own hands. Eventually, Kelley fled the scene and soon after got into a car accident, where he then took his own life with a gunshot to the head, officials said.
The town of Sutherland Springs now mourns and have begun to hold funerals services for the lives lost. All they can do now is remember the lost ones and try to keep moving forward as the strong community they’ve proven to be.
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Sources: Washington Post, New York times.