texas church shooting
Texas shooter 'intentionally' fractured his infant son's skull
The 26-year-old gunman who opened fire Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, pleaded guilty of "intentionally" breaking his infant stepson's skull in a 2012 incident, The New York Times reports. "He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull, and he also assaulted his wife," said former Air Force chief prosecutor Don Christensen. "He pled to intentionally doing it."
The shooter, identified as Devin Patrick Kelley, killed 26 people in his rampage. Victims range in age from 18 months to 77 years. Investigators have identified a "domestic situation" as potentially motivating Kelley's attack — Kelley's second wife, whom he married after divorcing the wife he assaulted in 2012, attended the First Baptist Church.
Kelley was sentenced to 12 months confinement for the 2012 assault and discharged from the Air Force in 2014. He married his second wife, Danielle Lee Shields, later that year.
The New York Times adds that it is "unclear" if Kelley's assault conviction "would have barred him from purchasing a gun."