The identity of the masked gunman who shot and killed at least 27 people and injured more than 20 Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas has been revealed.
Here's a picture of the Texas church shooting suspect Devin Patrick Kelley, 26. pic.twitter.com/rRjSRmFqcJ
Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, a resident of San Antonio suburb New Braunfels, has been identified as the shooter by a U.S. official and confirmed by The Daily Beast. In addition, police plan to raid Kelley's home to search for explosives, according to MySanAntonio.com. Kelley has since died. The shooting has been named the deadliest in Texas history.
Kelley was married and his mother-in-law had a P.O. box in Sutherland Springs, where the shooting occurred.The Daily Beast found a LinkedIn account that apparently belonged to Kelley which included a time serving in the U.S. Air Force from 2009, when he graduated high school, to 2013. According to Defense Department records, Kelley was officially discharged from the Air Force in 2014 for bad conduct. In 2012, he had been court martialed and sentenced with a bad conduct discharge, 12 months confinement, and two deductions in rank.
We’ve confirmed Devin Kelley, the #Texas shooter was given a Bad conduct discharge from USAF, reduction in rank and 12-months confinement.
What we know, Devin P. Kelley was active duty in the USAF from Jan 2010 to May2014. Source: Dishonorable Discharge. Possible appeal denied pic.twitter.com/BQwtj9s4Nz
Kelley also briefly taught at a summer Bible school. Kelley’s now-deleted Facebook profile featured an assault rifle as his cover photo.
On October 29, Kelley posted a photo of what appears to be the same assault rifle as the one in his cover photos with the caption: "She's a bad bitch."
More details are beginning to trickle out from the scene of the shooting, but a clear motive has not yet been identified. A witness told KSAT that Kelley was dressed in tactical gear and led the police on a car chase soon after he opened fire on churchgoers. He eventually crashed his car about 11 miles away from the church, and authorities say that he killed himself shortly thereafter.
Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, gave a press conference where he relayed details of the shooting and provided a timeline of what happened. He revealed that a local resident grabbed his own rifle and engaged with Kelley. Martin revealed it is not yet known if Kelley died as a result of "a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if [the suspect] was shot by a local resident who engaged him in gunfire." He had multiple weapons in his vehicle.
Freeman Martin, regional director of @TxDPS, gives timeline of Texas church shooting: pic.twitter.com/GBZTmdQ7IV
Martin: "We don't know if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if [suspect] was shot by a local resident who engaged him in gunfire." pic.twitter.com/bIJvSNHbhD
Texas shooting suspect was dressed in all black, with tactical type gear and was wearing a ballistic vest, according to @TxDPS. pic.twitter.com/rQuH4eBIJl
One of the people killed in attack was First Baptist Church Pastor Frank Pomeroy's 14-year-old daughter Annabelle Renee Pomeroy. The town of Sutherland Springs was small; the last recorded population was 362 people in 2000.
