Police were informed in 2012 that the Texas church shooter was 'a danger to himself and others'

(Image credit: Texas Department of Public Safety via Getty Images)

published 7 November 2017

The 26-year-old gunman who killed more than two dozen people in a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church on Sunday once escaped from a psychiatric hospital and attempted to carry out death threats against his superiors in the military, The New York Times reports.

In 2012, Devin Patrick Kelley escaped Peak Behavioral Health Services in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and was caught by police at a nearby bus station in El Paso, where he was apparently attempting to get away. Kelley had been sent to the psychiatric facility after breaking his infant stepson's skull and assaulting his wife, charges he pleaded guilty to and which led to his eventual discharge from the Air Force.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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