Texas Shooting
On Sunday, November 6, a man opened fire inside of a church in Sunderland Springs, Texas. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history. It was also the 5th deadliest mass shooting in US history.
Devin Kelley shot off 15 magazines worth of bullets at people in First Baptist Church in Sunderland Springs, 30 miles east of San Antonio. Kelley was 26 years old from New Braunfels, Texas.
Kelley killed 26 people and wounded 20 more. The people killed ranged from 18 months to 77 years old. A 5 months pregnant woman was shot and killed along with 6 others in her family. The baby in her womb was counted as part of the death total. Almost nobody at the church was left unscathhed. 4% of the town’s population died in this shooting.
When Kelley was done firing, he left the church. Outside of the church, he was confronted by a bystander who had his rifle out. The bystander shot at him and hit him twice. Kelley reached his car and drove off with 2 civilians chasing him. Kelley crashed his car and died. The cause of death was later identified as suicide.
Kelley had many pre-existing crimes against his family and many others. In 2012, he was caught sneaking guns onto an air force base attempting to carry out death threats. He was later admitted into a mental hospital. Kelley also had convictions of beating his then-wife and stepson, animal abuse, domestic assault, and threats against family members. He had sent his mother-in-law threatening text messages.
All these actions would not allow Kelley to buy a gun legally. The Air Force admitted that it had failed to enter his domestic violence court-martial into a federal database. Kelley was able to purchase guns and enough ammo to kill 26 people.
Nobody knows for sure what invoked Devin Kelley to commit this heinous act. President Donald Trump said on his trip to Asia, “I think that mental illness is your problem here. This was a very, based on preliminary reports, very deranged individual.”
The memory of this event will forever be remembered throughout the US and with the victims’ families for life.
