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

Devin Patric Kelley.
(Image credit: Texas Department of Public Safety via Getty Images)

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.

An El Paso police report claims the person who reported Kelley missing said he "suffered from mental disorders," that he was "attempting to carry out death threats [against] his military chain of command," and that he was "a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms onto Holloman Air Force Base," Houston's KPRC reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Air Force did not enter into a national database the 2012 domestic violence court-martial, which would have prohibited Kelley from purchasing weapons, the Air Force announced Monday.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeva Lange

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.