A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Texas gunman’s brutal past
The gunman who opened fire in a small Texas church, killing 26 people during worship services, sent threatening text messages to his mother-in-law before the attack and had been confronted about domestic violence at least twice in the last five years, authorities said Monday.
The deadliest mass shooting in state history claimed multiple members of some families, with the dead ranging from 18 months to 77 years old, and tore gaping holes in a town with a population of just 400 people.
The massacre appeared to stem from a domestic situation and was not religiously motivated, said Freeman Martin, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director. “There was a domestic situation going on within the family and the inlaws.”
Based on evidence at the scene, investigators believe Devin Patrick Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by armed bystanders and crashed his car.
Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt Jr. said the shooter’s former in-laws sometimes attended services at the church but were not there on Sunday.
Among those killed was the church pastor’s 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy. Pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife, Sherri, were both out of town when the attack occurred.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Sherri Pomeroy said, “Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners. We were a very close family. Now most of our church family is gone.”
The dead also included eight members of one family. Bryan Holcombe, a guest preacher at the church, was killed along with his wife, Karla; their son Marc Holcombe and his infant daughter, Noah, were slain; their daughter-in-law Crystal, who was eight months pregnant, was killed alongside three of her five children — Emily, Megan and Greg. Crystal’s husband, John Holcombe, survived the shooting but is in hospital with gunshot wounds.
Another family lost three members. Joann Ward, a mother of four, died with her children Brooke, five, and Emily, seven. A son, Ryland, six, was shot in the stomach, groin and arm.
“They got him all cut open, from the gunshots,” Ryland’s uncle, Michael Ward told the Dallas Morning News. “I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
Kelley, who lived about 50km from the church, pulled into a gas station across from the building around 11:20 a.m. Sunday. He crossed the street and started firing the rifle at the church.
Once inside, the gunman fired an assault rifle as he walked down the centre aisle during worship services. He turned around and continued shooting on his way out of the building.
Once the shooting started, there was probably “no way” for congregants to escape, said Sheriff Tackitt Jr.
“Nearly everyone (inside) had some type of injury,” he said.
The inside of the church was “a horrific sight,” Tackitt said. “You don’t expect to walk into church and find mauled bodies.”
Between 12 and 14 of the people killed or injured in the attack were children, he said.
As he left, the shooter was confronted by an armed resident who “grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect,” Martin said.
The man who confronted Kelley had help from another local resident, Johnnie Langendorff, who was driving his truck past the church. The man with the rifle — an as yet unidentified neighbour — ran up to Langendorff.
“He jumped in my truck and said, ‘He just shot up the church, we need to go get him.’ And I said ‘Let’s go.’”
During the chase, Kelley called his father to say “he had been shot and didn’t think he was going to make it,” Martin said.
Langendorff said the gunman lost control of his vehicle and crashed. He said the other man walked up to the vehicle with his gun drawn and the suspect did not move. He stayed there for at least five minutes, until police arrived.
Police said Kelley shot himself.
Three guns were recovered. A Ruger AR-556 rifle was found at the church, and two handguns were recovered from the suspect’s vehicle.
Wherever Kelley went after high school, a trail of violence followed.
In New Mexico, Kelley was kicked out of the Air Force following a court-martial two years after he enlisted for abusing his wife and reportedly hitting her child hard enough to fracture his skull. In Colorado, he was charged with misdemeanour animal cruelty after someone saw him punch a dog several times. And in Texas, deputies were called to his parents’ house after his girlfriend told a friend he was abusing her.
Kelley recently worked as a security guard at the Summit Vacation Resort near his home in New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio.