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Here’s What You Need To Know About Texas Church Shooter Devin Patrick Kelley

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Eric Owens Editor
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WATCH: HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TEXAS CHURCH SHOOTER DEVIN PATRICK KELLEY

Information is trickling steadily forth about Devin Patrick Kelley, the man who massacred 26 people at First Baptist Church in tiny Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Here is a primer of known facts about the 26-year-old killer.

Kelley appears to have enjoyed atheism and karate.

Kelley’s now-deleted Facebook page showed that he liked atheism, according to Heavy.com.

He also reportedly liked German Shepherds, Glock brand pistols and karate.

On a LinkedIn page, Heavy.com notes, Kelley signified that he cared about civil rights, animal welfare, arts, “social action,” human rights and children.

The 26 human beings Kelley murdered ranged in age from 5 to 72. Many of the victims were young children.

Kelley also appears to have volunteered to teach Bible study classes.

Kelley was a volunteer Bible study teacher at teacher at Kingsville First Baptist Church in Kingsville, Texas, according to the Daily Mail.

His wife had been a Bible study teacher at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

Kelley and his wife have a young child.

Former classmates describe Kelley as “creepy” and “weird.”

People who knew Kelley describe him as an “outcast” and they say he “preached his atheism” in online forums, according to the Mail.

“He had a kid or two, fairly normal, but kinda quiet and lately seemed depressed,” said Patrick Boyce, a former classmate at New Braunfels High School in the suburbs of San Antonio.

Both Boyce and a second ex-classmate, Nina Rose Nava, recalled as Kelley as a strident atheist.

“He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid” and he was “trying to preach his atheism,” Nava told the Mail.

“He was an outcast but not a loner,” Nava also said, describing Kelley as “popular” within the outcast clique.

A third acquaintance of Kelley’s, Michael Goff noted that Kelley “always posted” photos of himself and his baby.

A notable number of people claim either that Kelley recently tried to befriend them on Facebook, or that they took steps to un-friend Kelley because he had been posting oddly.

Kelley’s mother-in-law attended the church where the massacre unfolded.

The congregation at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs appears to have included Michelle Shields, who is Kelley’s mother-in-law.

It’s not clear if Shields was at the church when the shooting occurred.

Kelley lived in a ‘barndominium’ and shot his guns a lot.

According to San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT-TV, Kelley has lived for several years in “barndominium” in a rural area.

“Nothing abnormal. Regular guy,” neighbor Mark Moravitz told KSAT. “I mean, the only thing unusual across the street is we hear a lot of gunfire, a lot of times at night. We hear gunfire a lot, but we’re out in the country.”

Existing laws likely prevented Kelley from owning the gun he used.

Kelley used a Ruger-AR556 rifle to commit the massacre.

He had bragged about the gun, according to several sources.

He reportedly purchased the gun from an Academy Sports + Outdoor store in San Antonio and checked a box during the purchase which indicated that no criminal history prevented him from buying the weapon.

However, Texas law appears to prohibit anyone convicted of assaulting a family member from within their residence from owning a firearm.

In 2014, the United States Air Force court-martialed and discharged Kelley after he assaulted both his wife and his child, according to a report by The Daily Beast.

As an aside, the weapon Kelley used may have been banned under a 1994 law which expired in 2004.

Kelley appears to have joined the Air Force just after he graduated from New Braunfels High in 2009.

Kelley is dead but it’s not clear how he died.

Kelley fled in his SUV after the shooting late Sunday morning.  Police said Kelley stopped shooting after a gun owner — reportedly a 55-year-old man named Stephen Willeford — grabbed his rifle and began returning fire, possibly hitting and injuring Kelley.

Law enforcement officials found Kelley dead in the vehicle in which he fled. He had driven it off the road in the next county over.

Officials are still investigating the cause of death, but they say he likely died by shooting himself or from wounds inflicted by the man with the rifle.

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