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Devin Patrick Kelley: Who Is the Sutherland Springs Church Shooter? [PHOTOS]

Devin Patrick Kelley: Who Is the Sutherland Springs Church Shooter? [PHOTOS]
(Twitter)

Devin Patrick Kelley has been named as the shooter behind the attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Kelley was born in 1991 and is 26-years-old. According to CBS, Kelley is former “US Air Force E1 (2010-2014). He received a dishonorable discharge. He was court-martialed in May 2014.” He was court-martialed because of an assault on his wife and child. Because of his court-martial, "Both felony charges and domestic violence charges should legally prohibit someone from buying a gun," reports Business Insider.

According to CNBC, the shooter walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and began shooting, killing at least 26 people and wounding much more. The attack began at around 11:30 a.m., reports Fox News. At that time, the shooter walked into the church and opened fire on its occupants. According to NBC News, First Baptist Church pastor Frank Pomeroy was out of town during the attack but that his daughter, 14, was inside the church. She has been reported killed, according to the Sacramento Bee. One of the victims has been named as a 6-year-old boy named Rylan, who was shot 4 times, reports CBS's David Begnaud.


Newer reports say that Kelley also killed his grandmother-in-law, Lula White, in the shooting. The news comes as authorities still seek a motive for yesterday's massacre. According to the BBC, there may be a domestic violence link.

"This was not racially motivated, it wasn't over religious beliefs... There was a domestic situation going on with the family and in-laws," Freeman Martin, the regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters. Kelley had been sending threatening messages to his grandmother-in-law in days before the shooting.

Sutherland Springs is a small town of about 362 people east of San Antonio. The shooter is believed to be from the area, as San Antonio have sent a K9 unit to a house nearby in an unnamed location, reports My San Antonio.

The shooter was reported to have been "taken down," but details of his takedown were not yet released. He has been reported dead, reports CNN. Mark Seibel, National Security Editor for Buzzfeed, spoke to a neighbor of the church who said his house got hit by gunfire. Telemundo reports that the shooter was from another country, raising the question of ISIS.

However, this has been proven to be false.

An earlier report made on-air by a store employee named Carrie said that a man named Chris Ward was behind the attack. This was proven to be incorrect. Ward was later identified as a victim of the attack, along with his family.

Donald Trump tweeted about the shooting from Asia, where he is currently on a 13-day tour that will take him through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. From Japan, Trump tweeted, "May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan."

Rep. Steve Scalise also weighed in on the mass shooting on Twitter, himself still recovering from being shot during the Congressional baseball shooting in June. Scalise said, "Devastating news from Texas today. Praying for the victims, the heroic first responders, and the whole Sutherland Springs community."