The gunman has been identified in the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas that occurred earlier today, leaving 26 dead and many more wounded.
Devin Patrick Kelley, of New Braunfels, has been identified as the gunman. According to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt, Kelley walked into the First Baptist Church and began shooting around 11:20 a.m.
After the shooter exited the church, a neighbor who heard the gun shots returned fire on Kelley, hitting him. Kelley then fled in a vehicle, and was pursued by neighbors into the next county. Tackitt said Kelley was later found dead in the vehicle in Guadalupe County after crashing. The exact circumstances of his death are not known.
Kelley was armed with a Ruger military-style rifle, black tactical gear, multiple rounds of ammunition and a ballistic vest. His victims range in age from 5 to 72. Among the dead were several children, a pregnant woman and the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter. Sunday’s attack is the deadliest mass shooting in Texas’s state history.
The New York Times reports Kelley served in the Air Force, but was court-martialed in 2012 on charges of assaulting his wife and child. He was then sentenced to 12 months’ confinement, receiving a “bad conduct” discharge in 2014, according to Ann Stefanek, the chief of Air Force media operations.
The motive behind Kelley’s attack has yet to be determined.
At a news conference on Sunday following the shooting, Governor Greg Abbott said that he and other Texans were asking “for God’s comfort, for God’s guidance and for God’s healing for all those who are suffering.”
President Trump also offered his support, saying, “Americans will do what we do best: we pull together and join hands and lock arms and through the tears and sadness, we stand strong.”
The Texas Rangers are leading the investigation, with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Flags have been ordered to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all federal buildings through Thursday.
Loading ...