Mass Shooter Leaves Sutherland Springs Devastated

What began as a typical Sunday evening at a church in the small town of Sutherland Springs quickly descended into chaos as one of largest mass shootings in Texas history took place. Not long after the unfortunate terrorist attack in New York, 26-year-old male Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire in the Texas Baptist Church on Nov. 5, leaving 26 dead and 20 more injured. Authorities have not yet identified the motives behind the shooting. In the heat of the moment, two other residents opened fire on Kelly, who preceded to drive away in his vehicle, but was chased by the men. Eventually, Kelly crashed and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Kelly began shooting his assault rifle right outside the church and later preceded to enter and fire at everything in sight. Church attendees began to take cover and panic ensued. Upon stepping out of the church, Kelly was shot twice by Jonnie Langendorff, but managed to drive away. Authorities have said that while Kelly was driving away from Langendorff, he texted his father and told him that he had been shot twice and he didn’t think he would survive.

Months prior to the shooting, Kelly had published a series of anti-God and pro-gun posts on Facebook after having an argument with his mother-in-law. According to officials, Kelly, who has a history of criminal behavior, left his mother-in-law various threatening messages days before the incident and on the day it occurred. During his time in the Air Force, Kelley was convicted of many domestic violence charges for abusing his stepson and both of his wives. As a result of his misconduct towards Air Force officials, and an attempt to smuggle weapons into a military base, he was placed in a mental health facility in New Mexico in 2012 but escaped days later. Kelly plead guilty to assaults charges when found by authorities and was released in 2014.

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I personally found it very upsetting, not just because of the death and injuries of innocent people, but also because this really shows our country’s gun violence and our inability to correct this issue.

— junior Monica Zapata

Controversy ensued throughout the media following the release of information regarding Kelly’s violent past. Many questioned how he was able to obtain the guns he used during the attack with such a violent record. The Air Force released a statement on Monday explaining that they failed to enter Kelly’s domestic violence in the database, which would have prevented him from buying the guns. Almost half of the 20 people injured are still in critical conditions.

”It feels like you can’t go anywhere without the fear of someone crazy doing something crazy,” sophomore Adriana Montoya said.

Although Kelly’s attack has taken a toll on the Sutherland Springs community, the First Baptist Church has not allowed the incident to disrupt usual Sunday service. To honor some of the victims who died, they are organizing a funeral for the Holcombe family and president Donald Trump has ordered the White House and the rest of the U.S. to lower the flag to half-staff to commemorate the lives lost in the First Baptist Church.