‘Domestic situation’ linked to massacre
Gunman had sent threatening messages
and see something like that, especially when all the bodies were there, and seeing the children. That’s what hurts the most.”
A nearby resident, armed with an assault rifle, confronted Kelley when he fled the church, Martin said. He said Kelley then drove off while the resident flagged down a passing pickup and pursued the SUV.
Kelley called his father to say he was shot before crashing his car. Martin said Kelley apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Tackitt said he has spoken with the man who confronted Kelley.
“If he hadn’t been there, the guy could have possibly gotten away, you know, because, I mean, no one would have seen what type of vehicle he was driving,” he said. “There’s another church 2 miles down the road over there. He could have stopped in there, too.”
Fred Milanowski, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said a rifle and two handguns were recovered. Milanowski said the guns had been purchased by Kelley.
The Air Force says it failed to report Kelley’s domestic violence conviction to the FBI as required by Pentagon rules.
Kelley was convicted of assault against his wife and stepson in an Air Force court-martial in New Mexico in 2012. The conviction should have disqualified him from buying or possessing firearms.
Information about such convictions is supposed to be submitted to the FBI for inclusion in the National Criminal Information Center database.
The Air Force said in a statement that the top two Air Force officials — Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein — have ordered a review of the Kelley case.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek says the Pentagon will also ensure records in other cases have been reported correctly across the Department of Defense.
Military legal experts say Kelley should have been barred from owning a firearm under federal laws because he was convicted in a general courtmartial, the most serious form of military tribunal.
Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse and their child, receiving a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force and 12 months of confinement.
President Donald Trump, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, said that Kelley was “deranged” and that the focus should be on mental health, not gun control.
“I think mental health is the problem here,” Trump said. “This isn’t a guns situation.”
Martin said Kelley, who did not have a license to carry a concealed handgun, was licensed as an unarmed security guard. This summer, Kelley worked for less than six weeks at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels as a seasonal night security guard, the water park said in a statement, and was terminated in July.
The church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, was out of town and not at Sunday’s service. Tackitt confirmed that the guest pastor was among the victims.
Pomeroy’s wife, Sherri, confirmed that their daughter Annabelle, 14, was also among the victims.
“We lost more than Belle yesterday, and the one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded by her church family that she loved fiercely,” she said. “Now, most of our church family is gone.”
Contributing: Jim Michaels
“This was not racially motivated; it wasn’t over religious beliefs.” Freeman Martin DPS official