Texas shooting: Devin Kelley past included divorce domestic battery
Devin Kelley
Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Texas Public Safety authorities say the Sutherland Springs church shooting appears to have stemmed from a "domestic situation." It's not the first domestic incident involving suspected gunman  Devin Kelley . USA TODAY
Investigators are still probing what led  Devin Kelley  to target the First Baptist Church in the small town of Sutherland Springs  Texas  but authorities noted  he  was embroiled in an ongoing domestic dispute with  his  wifeâs family.  His  mother-in-law had attended the church  but  his  in-laws were not at Sundayâs deadly service.
âWe can tell you that there was a domestic situation going on within  his  family â said Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin. âThe mother-in-law had attended this church. We know she had received threatening texts from him.â
Both President Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that  Kelley   who is accused of killing 26 people and wounding 20 others  suffered from mental health problems. They did not disclose the nature of his mental illness.
Earlier this year   Kelley  worked for five and a half weeks as an unarmed security guard at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels  park spokesperson Winter Prosapio said in an email. The water park in this San Antonio suburb is located about 35 miles north of where  Kelley  conducted the largest mass shooting in Texas history.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said  Kelley  served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge in 2014. After he was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse and a child  he received a bad conduct discharge  was confined for 12 months at Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California and busted to the serviceâs lowest rank.
 Kelley  was alleged to have fractured the skull of  his  young stepson  said Don Christensen  the Air Force's former chief prosecutor whose office oversaw  Kelley 's prosecution.
The Air Force on Monday said it failed to flag  Kelley  as banned from buying the weapons  he  used in the killing spree.  Kelley âs domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database by the Air Force officials at Holloman Air Force Base  Stefanek said in a statement.
The Air Force was required to provide the information to the database because  Kelley  was convicted of a domestic assault and under federal law would not have been able to purchase a gun legally.
The Bureau of Alcohol  Tobacco  Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said  Kelley  owned four guns  purchasing two in Colorado and two in Texas since 2014.
 Kelley  had another run in with law enforcement in August 2014 while living in a Colorado mobile home park.
Four witnesses at the mobile home park said they saw  Kelley  repeatedly punch a white and brown husky  according to an El Paso County Sheriffâs Department incident report.
One witness said  Kelley  picked up the dog by its neck and slammed it onto the ground. Other witnesses also said they saw  Kelley  punch the dog and then drag the dog away.
 Kelley  initially refused to leave his camper when deputies arrived at the scene and told them he wouldn't talk to them about the incident or let them see his dog without a search warrant.
He later admitted to deputies that he jumped on the dog  because the animal had been acting aggressively toward another dog in the area. But  Kelley  denied punching the dog.
The dog was impounded  and  Kelley  was released at the scene with a summons to appear in court.
Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Texas Public Safety authorities say the Sutherland Springs church shooting appears to have stemmed from a "domestic situation." It's not the first domestic incident involving suspected gunman  Devin Kelley . USA TODAY
Investigators are still probing what led   [TGT] to target the First Baptist Church in the small town of Sutherland Springs  Texas  but authorities noted   [TGT]   was embroiled in an ongoing domestic dispute with   [TGT]   wifeâs family.   [TGT]   mother-in-law had attended the church  but  his  in-laws were not at Sundayâs deadly service.
âWe can tell you that there was a domestic situation going on within  his  family â said Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin. âThe mother-in-law had attended this church. We know she had received threatening texts from him.â
Both President Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that  Kelley   who is accused of killing 26 people and wounding 20 others  suffered from mental health problems. They did not disclose the nature of his mental illness.
Earlier this year   Kelley  worked for five and a half weeks as an unarmed security guard at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels  park spokesperson Winter Prosapio said in an email. The water park in this San Antonio suburb is located about 35 miles north of where  Kelley  conducted the largest mass shooting in Texas history.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said  Kelley  served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge in 2014. After he was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse and a child  he received a bad conduct discharge  was confined for 12 months at Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California and busted to the serviceâs lowest rank.
 Kelley  was alleged to have fractured the skull of  his  young stepson  said Don Christensen  the Air Force's former chief prosecutor whose office oversaw  Kelley 's prosecution.
The Air Force on Monday said it failed to flag  Kelley  as banned from buying the weapons  he  used in the killing spree.  Kelley âs domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database by the Air Force officials at Holloman Air Force Base  Stefanek said in a statement.
The Air Force was required to provide the information to the database because  Kelley  was convicted of a domestic assault and under federal law would not have been able to purchase a gun legally.
The Bureau of Alcohol  Tobacco  Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said  Kelley  owned four guns  purchasing two in Colorado and two in Texas since 2014.
 Kelley  had another run in with law enforcement in August 2014 while living in a Colorado mobile home park.
Four witnesses at the mobile home park said they saw  Kelley  repeatedly punch a white and brown husky  according to an El Paso County Sheriffâs Department incident report.
One witness said  Kelley  picked up the dog by its neck and slammed it onto the ground. Other witnesses also said they saw  Kelley  punch the dog and then drag the dog away.
 Kelley  initially refused to leave his camper when deputies arrived at the scene and told them he wouldn't talk to them about the incident or let them see his dog without a search warrant.
He later admitted to deputies that he jumped on the dog  because the animal had been acting aggressively toward another dog in the area. But  Kelley  denied punching the dog.
The dog was impounded  and  Kelley  was released at the scene with a summons to appear in court.