Texas gunman attacked church where in-laws worshipped, sheriff says
A man thrown out of the U.S. Air Force for beating his wife and child shot and killed 26 people in a Texas church where his inlaws had sometimes worshipped before shooting himself, officials said on Monday, in the latest in a string of U.S. mass shootings. The gunman, Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, walked into the whitesteepled First Baptist Church in rural Sutherland Springs carrying an assault rifle and wearing black tactical gear, then opened fire during a Sunday prayer service. He wounded at least 20 others, officials said. In photos Mass shooting at a Texas church Story continues below advertisement Texas church shooting What we know so far Stop using mental illness to explain away violence. Its not that simple After he left the church, two local residents, one of whom was armed, chased him in their vehicles and exchanged gunfire, and Kelley crashed his car and shot himself, dying of his wounds, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told CBS News in an interview on Monday morning. At this time we believe that he had a selfinflicted gunshot wound, Tackitt said. Tackitt said Kelleys inlaws sometimes attended services at First Baptist, which was cordoned off by yellow crimescene tape on Monday morning. I heard that they attended church from time to time, Tackitt told Reuters. Not on a regular basis. The attack came a little more than a month after a gunman killed 58 people in Las Vegas in the deadliest shooting by a sole gunman in U.S. history. Story continues below advertisement The initial death toll matched the fatalities at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where a man shot and killed 26 children and educators and his mother before taking his own life in December 2012. Those attacks now stand as the fourth deadliest by a single gunman in the United States. POWDER KEG Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott told CBS there was evidence that Kelley had mental health problems and that he had been denied a Texas gun permit. Its clear this is a person who had violent tendencies, who had some challenges, and someone who was a powder keg, seeming waiting to go off, Abbott said. Abbott and other Republican leaders were quick to say that the attack did not influence their support of gun ownership by U.S. citizens the right to bear arms protected under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This isnt a guns situation. I mean we could go into it but its a little bit soon to go into it, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters while on trip to Asia. But fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise ... it would have been much worse. But this is a mental health problem at the highest level. Story continues below advertisement Democrats renewed their call to restrict gun ownership following the attack. How many more people must die at churches or concerts or schools before we stop letting the @NRA control this countrys gun policies, Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter. The victims in Sutherland Springs, a community of fewer than 400 people, located about 40 miles 65 km east of San Antonio, included the 14yearold daughter of church pastor Frank Pomeroy, the family told several television stations. One couple, Joe and Claryce Holcombe, told the Washington Post they lost eight extended family members, including a pregnant granddaughterinlaw and three of her children. In rural areas like Sutherland Springs, gun ownership is a part of life and the states Republican leaders for years have balked at gun control, arguing that more firearms among responsible owners make the state safer. John Stiles, a 76yearold retired U.S. Navy veteran, said he heard the shots from his home about 150 yards 137 m from the church. The wind was blowing and there was a bang, bang, bang. It was the gunshots, Stiles said. My wife and I were looking for a peaceful and quiet place when we moved here but now that hasnt worked out. Kelley served in its Logistics Readiness unit at Hollom...
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