‘ I wish I had the nerve’
Sutherland Springs gunman threatened to commit mass murder and sent photos of guns to his former sergeant, documents say
Air Force officials said the gunman who committed the Sutherland Springs mass shooting in 2017 had threatened to commit mass murder in a church years earlier, documents in a federal court case indicate.
The gunman, Devin Kelley, was discharged from the Air Force in 2014 after he was convicted on domestic violence charges for beating his then-wife and child.
He told his former staff sergeant after the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, S.C., “I wish I had the nerve to do it,” testimony from the sergeant, Jessika Lee Edwards, says in an FBI report.
“Kelley also sent Edwards pictures of multiple guns he was building, specifically an AR-15style rifle. Edwards told Kelley to get help once she realized he was completely obsessed with mass shootings,” the FBI report reads.
The testimony is among depositions and subpoenaed documents in a 2018 lawsuit against the Air Force and Defense Department by nine Sutherland Springs families. They accuse the federal government of negligence for failing to report Kelley’s convictions to the FBI.
The families are asking the court to rule in their favor for an undisclosed amount before the case goes to trial.
If the Air Force had disclosed Kelley’s convictions as required to the FBI, Kelley wouldn’t have passed two background checks to purchase the Ruger AR-556 that he used in the massacre.
He killed 26 people and wounded 20 others at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Nov. 5, 2017. He shot and killed himself while in a car chase fleeing from the church.
Less than a month after the shooting, the Air Force Inspector General found the service had failed to report Kelley’s criminal convictions to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database. Federal law requires government agencies to file the reports.
But the inspector general also found the failure to report cases to the background check system was widespread, occurring at several military bases.
A new law that was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, strengthens penalties for agencies and states that don’t comply with the reporting requirement.
Kelley had a documented history of behavioral problems in the Air Force and was given a badconduct discharge after serving time in military prison.
The court filings show several Air Force officials were aware of Kelley’s behavior. Officials also testified they didn’t know they were supposed to submit Kelley’s convictions to the FBI.
In the depositions, Sgt. Troy Bizzack of Holloman AFB in New Mexico referred to Kelley when he said he had a “gut feeling that if there was ever going to be someone who would shoot up the shop, it would be him.”
In another document, a commander, James Hoy said, “I believe there is clearly evidence that suggests (Kelley) could do a mass shooting, and that was reported,” adding later that “it’s foreseeable” he could commit a mass shooting.
“Kelley has a history of severe mental health problems. He openly carried a firearm on Holloman AFB and placed a weapon to his wife's head. He has repeatedly threatened to kill his leadership,” Commander Robert Bearden said in an Air Force report in late March 2020.
Col. James Hudson acknowledged in a deposition that he did not train employees on reporting convictions to the FBI.
“Is it correct to say that you never provided supervisory oversight or specific training to anyone at Holloman Air Force Base about correcting the errors of fingerprint collection, reporting and conviction reporting?” attorney Jamal Alsaffar asked.
“It wasn’t a topic of training,” Hudson responded in his deposition.
Alsaffar then inquired about three IG reports that outlined a systemic failure to report background files to the FBI.
“The first I had knowledge of those was as a result of this incident in 2017,” Hudson responded.
The court filings also show findings from a task force formed after the shooting to investigate the Air Force reporting history to the FBI. It found about 7,300 reporting errors, spanning more than three decades.
“The Air Force messed up on something very simple as turning in the paperwork,” said Gunny Macias, a survivor of the Sutherland Park shooting. “If the Air Force had turned in that paperwork, 26 awesome, beautiful people would still be alive.”