Warning signs

The Texas killer was big trouble in plain sight

There were lots of signs that Devin Kelley would commit more violence, and that makes his rampage at a rural Texas church Sunday all the more tragic.

The 26-year-old Kelley, who fired as he walked up and down the aisle, killing at least 26 and injuring about 20, had a record of abusing animals. He was drummed out of the Air Force for assaulting his ex-wife and cracking his stepson’s skull in 2012, then escaped from a mental health facility months later. According to news reports, Kelley also had smuggled firearms onto a military base and threatened at one point to kill his superior officers.

In 2014, police were called for a domestic incident involving Kelley and the woman who would become his second wife. Before the massacre, he sent threatening text messages to his mother-in-law, who belonged to the church but was not present at services Sunday.

While mass shootings often prompt calls for stiffer gun-control laws, and indeed some are needed, the tragedy at Sutherland Springs drives home the need for the military and law enforcement to make maximum use of the tools already available to them. After Kelley’s courtmartial for the assault on his ex-wife and stepson, the Air Force failed to notify the FBI of his criminal record. Had the Air Force done so, as military policy required, he would have been unable to purchase guns legally. Instead, according to The Washington Post, he purchased at least two in as many years after passing background checks.

The Air Force’s oversight raises troubling questions. Was this an isolated error or has the Air Force failed to notify federal authorities of other personnel with criminal records? The military should find out. While Kelley’s rampage evidently was related to one of his many domestic disputes, it’s important to batten the hatches as a hedge against religious terrorism, too.

The shooting underscores the need for communities to pay more attention to animal cruelty, mental illness and domestic violence. Violence against animals is often a precursor to violence against people. While people with mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime, Kelly clearly fell into the latter category and a robust treatment system — inpatient, outpatient and in correctional facilities — is needed to protect these offenders from society and themselves.

Domestic disputes are a flashpoint for violent behavior. Police officers know that domestic disputes are among the most dangerous calls they’ll ever answer, yet too many abusers fall through cracks in the system. Kelley was not arrested following the 2014 incident involving his then-girlfriend. Police should revisit that case to see whether he should have been, and authorities around the country should make sure they give domestic violence cases the weight they deserve.

Allegheny County has a domestic violence court, which aims to promote accountability by funneling all of an offender’s cases through one Common Pleas judge. It’s a commonsense idea that other counties should consider adopting.

Some killers give no clues to the mayhem they’re about to unleash. Kelley, who ended the bloodbath by taking his own life after fleeing the scene, spent years leaving them. If his violent behavior had resulted in tougher penalties, he might have been behind bars or in treatment Sunday. Devin Kelley should have been on everyone’s radar.