On Sunday, November 5, Texas suffered its deadliest shooting in history at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Devin Patrick Kelley, age 26, shot twenty-six innocent people and then himself. The autopsy results show that he was shot in the leg and torso by an armed citizen, and then shot himself in the head. He was found dead in his vehicle with multiple weapons. Law enforcement officers are still investigating this tragic event.
According to Air Force spokeswoman Anne Stefanek, Kelley served at Hollman Airforce Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge in 2014. She claims he was court-martialed in 2012 for assault on his wife and stepson. He served a year in confinement, received a bad conduct discharge and had his rank reduced, Stefanek said. When a conviction of domestic assault occurs, the Air Force is required to appropriately relay such information to civilian law enforcement. The US Air Force and Department of Defense are investigating why these measures were not taken for Kelley’s 2012 conviction. Federal law officials have found no records notifying them of Kelley’s conviction. Had Kelley’s history been properly reported, it could have prevented his purchase of the firearm he used to murder innocent civilians, including his own grandmother-in-law, Lula White. According to friends of the woman, Kelley had sent his mother-in-law threatening text messages the morning of the shooting. It is popular belief that his intent was to shoot his mother-in-law, who was not at church that day.
Courtesy: CNN
Prior to the shooting, authorities say Kelley looked suspicious at the gas station across the street from the church, as he was dressed in all black and wearing a ballistic vest with a plate on the front. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety also reported Kelley in possession of a black mask with a skull-type face on it. “I think he came here with a purpose and a mission,” says Martin. Martin also says Kelley began firing before he even entered the church.
Kelley purchased the Ruger AR-556 rifle he used in the shooting from a store in San Antonio, Texas in April of 2016. According to a law enforcement official, he passed the background check conducted as required for the purchase, even though he was denied by the state of Texas to get a license to carry a gun.
Ten of the twenty people wounded remain in critical condition. According to authorities, almost nobody left the church unscathed. Twenty-three people died inside the church, two outside, and one in the hospital. The victims who died include Annabelle Pomeroy, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the church’s out-of-town pastor, Bryan Holcombe, a visiting pastor, and eight members of his family, including a pregnant woman and three of her children. Many deceased victims are still pending identification by family members.
The small town of Sutherland Springs is devastated by this tragic event. Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. says in a statement to CNN: “My heart is broken. We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this.”