Police: Gunman sent threats to mother-in-law
a total of eight extended family members, the couple said.
“Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners. We were a very close family,” said Sherri Pomeroy, the wife of the church pastor, who was out of town with her husband when the attack happened. “Now most of our church family is gone.”
The couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy, was among those killed.
Kelley’s mother-in-law sometimes attended services there, but the sheriff said she was not at church Sunday.
The massacre appeared to stem from a domestic situation and was not racially or religiously motivated, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said.
Investigators believe Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by bystanders, one of whom was armed, and crashed his car.
Stephen Willeford, a former National Rifle Association instructor, ran from his home with a rifle and confronted the gunman outside the church. Authorities have said two bullets fired by Mr. Willeford hit Kelley, in the leg and torso.
The gunman fled in his vehicle. Johnnie Langendorff was driving by the church when Mr. Willeford flagged him down, and they drove after the gunman. Kelley eventually lost control of his vehicle, crashed and was found dead.
“There was no thinking about it. There was just doing. That was the key to all this. Act now. Ask questions later,” Mr. Langendorff said.
While in the military, Kelley served in logistics readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his 2014 discharge, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.
He was discharged for the assault involving his previous wife and her child and had served a year of confinement after a court-martial. Under Pentagon rules, information about convictions of military personnel for crimes such as assault should be submitted to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Investigation Services Division.
A few months before Kelley received the bad-conduct discharge, sheriff’s deputies went to his home to check out the domestic violence complaint involving him and his then-girlfriend. No arrests were made, and Kelley married the woman two months later.
Once the shooting started, there was probably “no way” for congregants to escape, Wilson County Sheriff Joe D. Tackitt Jr. said.
The gunman fired an assault rifle as he walked down the center aisle during worship services. He turned around and continued shooting on his way out of the building, Sheriff Tackitt said.
About 20 other people were wounded. Ten of them were still hospitalized Monday in critical condition. Investigators collected at least 15 empty magazines that held 30 rounds each.
Kelley lived in New Braunfels, about 35 miles north of the church. Investigators were reviewing social media posts he made in the days before the attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon.
Three weapons were recovered. A Ruger AR-556 rifle was found at the church, and two handguns were found in the gunman’s vehicle, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.