Authorities identified the suspected gunman who opened fire in a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, as 26-year-old as Devin Patrick Kelley, a former Air Force veteran who served in logistics readiness from 2010 until he was dishonorably discharged in May 2014. He was a resident of New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio.
Kelley shot and killed 25 people and wounded at least another 20 others — ages 5 to 72, including at least one pregnant woman, a mother to three other children — at around 11:15 a.m. local time in a tiny Texas town. Sutherland Springs is really small, with a population of fewer than 400 souls, located about 40 miles northeast of San Antonio.
U.S. President Donald Trump, currently in Japan, quickly tweeted his support to grieving loved ones: “May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs. The FBI is on scene, and I am monitoring the situation.” Speaking later from Japan, he said in a statement, “We pray to God for all of the wounded, and the families of the victims. We will never, ever leave their side.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks Sunday night that he was “horrified by the savagery in Texas. Our hearts are with the victims, their families and the American people.”
An unidentified source told JewishPress.com the parents of the gunman’s wife was accustomed to attending services at the First Baptist Church, targeted in the massacre. It’s not known whether Kelley’s in-laws were in church Sunday morning when their son-in-law opened fire, and the whereabouts of his wife and children during his attack were also unknown.
Praying for the families of Sutherland Springs. A church is the most sacred of places. No words. pic.twitter.com/J4z8LCGHuV
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley)
It’s not clear why he walked into the church on Sunday morning dressed in black, full combat gear with a bulletproof vest, toting a Ruger AR-15 assault rifle. But Kelley first shot two people outside and then opened fire at the congregation inside once he entered the church, according to law enforcement officials who spoke with Fox News. When he came out of the church, another congregant grabbed his rifle and began to struggle with him, prompting him to drop the weapon, get into his car — parked at the gas station across the street — and to flee the scene.
The car, chased by law enforcement officials, crashed and went off the road. Kelley was found dead inside the vehicle, and Fox News reports it is not yet clear whether he died from a self-inflicted wound, or from injuries sustained in pursuit.
Nor is his motive clear, at least as of late Sunday night.
Among the victims was 14 year old daughter of the pastor at the First Baptist Church. Young Annabelle Pomeroy was the daughter of Pastor Frank Pomeroy, who was not present at the church at the time. Pomeroy was in Oklahoma. He later told ABC News his daughter “was one very beautiful, special child.”
Prior to the attack, Kelley had posted a proud photo of his assault rifle on Facebook, calling the weapon a “bad b—tch.” According to multiple reports, he also briefly taught summer Bible School. The Daily Beast reported that he was married and that his mother-in-law had listed a postal box in Sutherland Springs as an address.
The FBI arrived at the scene along with local police within minutes after workers at a gas station across the street from the tiny church heard automatic gunfire at around 11:15 a.m., ABC News reported.
Terrified people who heard about the attack via social media posted immediately, begging for prayers. One family member posted this message:
‘PLS PRAY FOR MY DAD BC MY DAD IS AT THE SHOOTING SCENE!!’
Another user wrote:
‘People can’t even go to church without being killed. Prayers for Sutherland springs.’ (sic)
The shooting was the deadliest mass killing at a place of worship in modern American history. It exceeded the vicious murder of nine parishioners at the Emanuel AME Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. An investigation is underway.