Air Force missed at least two chances to stop Texas shooter buying guns
Devin Kelley
A third opportunity to flag shooter  Devin Kelley  was lost two years later by a twist of bad luck when a Pentagon inspection of cases narrowly missed the former airman.
The Air Force said on Monday it had failed to provide information as required about  Kelley âs criminal history to the Federal Bureau of Investigationâs criminal databases. It gave few other details about the omission.
A review of Department of Defense procedures by Reuters shows that the military twice should have flagged  Kelley   then serving at a New Mexico base  after  he  was accused of repeatedly beating  his  wife and stepson.
If Pentagon rules had been followed  the Air Force should have put  Kelley  into national criminal databases used for background checks soon after  he  was charged.
The Air Force should then have flagged  Kelley   26  again later that year after  his  court-martial conviction for assault  which permanently disqualified  him  from legally getting a gun.
When presented with this account of how the FBI was not alerted about  Kelley   Air Force officials confirmed the procedures that should have happened.
âThat is what the investigation is looking at now â Brooke Brzozowske  an Air Force spokeswoman  said. The FBI confirmed it never received  Kelley âs records.
 Kelley  bought guns from a store in Texas in 2016 and 2017  although it is not clear whether these were the weapons  he  used last Sunday to attack churchgoers in Sutherland Springs before killing  himself . Authorities said  he  killed 26 people  including a pregnant womanâs unborn child.
If the Air Force had flagged  Kelley  to the FBI either when  he  was charged and convicted   he  would have been unable to get a gun legally.
Reuters has been unable to determine exactly how or why  Kelley âs records were not shared.
 Kelley  also narrowly slipped through the system in 2014 when the Pentagonâs inspector general told the Air Force it was routinely failing to send criminal records to the FBI  and urged them to correct this in some old cases like Kelleyâs
Rymer recommended that the Air Force send what missing fingerprints and records it could from his sample period to the FBI  and the Air Force agreed. But  Kelley  was convicted in November 2012  a week after the sample period ended  and it appears that  his  case was never looked at again.
Entering his fingerprints and other information in the FBIâs so-called Interstate Identification Index (III) would have been enough to flag  Kelley  as needing further investigation in 2016 when he tried to buy a gun at a San Antonio store.
The FBI would then have asked the Air Force the outcome of  Kelley âs case. The airman was convicted of a crime involving domestic violence that carries a maximum penalty of more than one year in prison  both of which disqualify a person from buying guns and ammunition under federal law.
Instead   Kelley  cleared the background check and walked out of the store with a gun  and returned the following year  passed another background check and bought a second one  the store said.
According to Defense Department rules  the Air Force should have caught its error after Kelleyâs court-martial ended when it was obliged to notify the FBI that  Kelley  had been convicted  and that  his  crime involved domestic violence
A third opportunity to flag shooter   [TGT] was lost two years later by a twist of bad luck when a Pentagon inspection of cases narrowly missed the former airman.
The Air Force said on Monday it had failed to provide information as required about   [TGT]  âs criminal history to the Federal Bureau of Investigationâs criminal databases. It gave few other details about the omission.
A review of Department of Defense procedures by Reuters shows that the military twice should have flagged   [TGT] then serving at a New Mexico base  after   [TGT]   was accused of repeatedly beating  his  wife and stepson.
If Pentagon rules had been followed  the Air Force should have put   [TGT] into national criminal databases used for background checks soon after   [TGT]   was charged.
The Air Force should then have flagged  Kelley   26  again later that year after  his  court-martial conviction for assault  which permanently disqualified  him  from legally getting a gun.
When presented with this account of how the FBI was not alerted about   [TGT] Air Force officials confirmed the procedures that should have happened.
âThat is what the investigation is looking at now â Brooke Brzozowske  an Air Force spokeswoman  said. The FBI confirmed it never received   [TGT]  âs records.
  [TGT] bought guns from a store in Texas in 2016 and 2017  although it is not clear whether these were the weapons   [TGT]   used last Sunday to attack churchgoers in Sutherland Springs before killing   [TGT]  . Authorities said   [TGT]   killed 26 people  including a pregnant womanâs unborn child.
If the Air Force had flagged   [TGT] to the FBI either when   [TGT]   was charged and convicted    [TGT]   would have been unable to get a gun legally.
Reuters has been unable to determine exactly how or why   [TGT]  âs records were not shared.
  [TGT] also narrowly slipped through the system in 2014 when the Pentagonâs inspector general told the Air Force it was routinely failing to send criminal records to the FBI  and urged them to correct this in some old cases like Kelleyâs
Rymer recommended that the Air Force send what missing fingerprints and records it could from  [TGT]  sample period to the FBI  and the Air Force agreed. But   [TGT] was convicted in November 2012  a week after the sample period ended  and it appears that   [TGT]   case was never looked at again.
Entering  [TGT]  fingerprints and other information in the FBIâs so-called Interstate Identification Index (III) would have been enough to flag   [TGT] as needing further investigation in 2016 when  [TGT]  tried to buy a gun at a San Antonio store.
The FBI would then have asked the Air Force the outcome of  [TGT]  âs case. The airman was convicted of a crime involving domestic violence that carries a maximum penalty of more than one year in prison  both of which disqualify a person from buying guns and ammunition under federal law.
Instead    [TGT] cleared the background check and walked out of the store with a gun  and returned the following year  passed another background check and bought a second one  the store said.
According to Defense Department rules  the Air Force should have caught its error after Kelleyâs court-martial ended when it was obliged to notify the FBI that   [TGT] had been convicted  and that   [TGT]   crime involved domestic violence