ZitatSUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Tex. — A day after a gunman massacred parishioners in a small Texas church, the Air Force admitted on Monday that it had failed to enter the man’s domestic violence court-martial into a federal database that could have blocked him from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people.
The conviction of the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, for domestic assault on his wife and infant stepson — he had cracked the child’s skull — should have stopped Mr. Kelley from legally purchasing the military-style rifle and three other guns he bought in the last four years. But that information was never entered by the Air Force into the federal database for background checks on gun purchasers, the service said.
“The Air Force has launched a review of how the service handled the criminal records of former Airman Devin P. Kelley following his 2012 domestic violence conviction,” the Air Force said in a statement. “Federal law prohibited him from buying or possessing firearms after this conviction.”
[snip]
New details of the killings also emerged on Monday, including a possible motive. Local law enforcement officials said that Mr. Kelley may have been driven by anger toward his estranged wife’s family, the final chapter in a life full of domestic rage. In addition to his court-martial, in which his previous wife was the victim, he had been investigated on a rape complaint, though he was not charged and his relationship to the victim was unclear.
His current wife’s mother attended First Baptist Church, the target of Mr. Kelley’s rage on Sunday. “The suspect’s mother-in-law attended this church,” Freeman Martin, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said during a news conference Monday morning. “We know that he had made threatening texts and we can’t go into detail into that domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigated.”
“This was not racially motivated, it wasn’t over religious beliefs, it was a domestic situation going on,” Mr. Martin added.
ZitatSUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Tex. — A day after a gunman massacred parishioners in a small Texas church, the Air Force admitted on Monday that it had failed to enter the man’s domestic violence court-martial into a federal database that could have blocked him from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people.
The conviction of the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, for domestic assault on his wife and infant stepson — he had cracked the child’s skull — should have stopped Mr. Kelley from legally purchasing the military-style rifle and three other guns he bought in the last four years. But that information was never entered by the Air Force into the federal database for background checks on gun purchasers, the service said.
“The Air Force has launched a review of how the service handled the criminal records of former Airman Devin P. Kelley following his 2012 domestic violence conviction,” the Air Force said in a statement. “Federal law prohibited him from buying or possessing firearms after this conviction.”
[snip]
New details of the killings also emerged on Monday, including a possible motive. Local law enforcement officials said that Mr. Kelley may have been driven by anger toward his estranged wife’s family, the final chapter in a life full of domestic rage. In addition to his court-martial, in which his previous wife was the victim, he had been investigated on a rape complaint, though he was not charged and his relationship to the victim was unclear.
His current wife’s mother attended First Baptist Church, the target of Mr. Kelley’s rage on Sunday. “The suspect’s mother-in-law attended this church,” Freeman Martin, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said during a news conference Monday morning. “We know that he had made threatening texts and we can’t go into detail into that domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigated.”
“This was not racially motivated, it wasn’t over religious beliefs, it was a domestic situation going on,” Mr. Martin added.
Devin Kelly was what was once labeled criminally insane. He had a history of stalking ex-girlfriends, animal cruelty, was given a discharge for bad conduct for beating his wife and fracturing his stepson's skull, threatening his mother-in-law, being heavily medicated by his parents in high school.
Devin Patrick Kelley: What we know about the Texas church shooting suspect Last Updated Nov 7, 2017 2:35 AM EST
per the Daily Mail it is reported that Kelley at one point escaped from a mental institution. The time line and details are fuzzy
REVEALED: Texas church gunman escaped a mental hospital five years ago and was 'planning to carry out death threats against his military superiors' as Feds say they haven't been able to break the lock on his phone
Texas gunman Devin Kelley escaped a New Mexico mental hospital in 2012, a Houston-area news station has uncovered
Kelley was 21 years old in June 2012 when he escaped Peak Behavioral Health Sciences, according to an incident report
Two police officers just across the state line in El Paso, Texas apprehended Kelley trying to catch a bus out of town
A witness at the scene told officers that Kelley, then an Airman in the Air Force, struggled with mental health issues and was a danger to himself
The witness also revealed that Kelley was trying to carry out death threats to his military superiors and had already been caught sneaking guns onto his base
Kelley was turned over to authorities in New Mexico
The incident happened five months before Kelley was sentenced to a year in military prison for beating his first wife and his infant stepson
In court papers, his wife said the abuse happened from April 2011 to April 2012
By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com Published: 14:59 EST, 7 November 2017 | Updated: 15:24 EST, 7 November 2017