The gunman in Sunday’s shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, escaped from a psychiatric hospital in New Mexico in 2012, where he was sent after he was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and stepson, according to a report. Devin Patrick Kelley, who police identified as the gunman in Sunday’s shooting at the First Baptist Church, also threatened his superiors in the Air Force and attempted to sneak firearms onto Holloman Air Force Base, where he was stationed, according to a 2012 police report obtained by KPRC in Houston.
Kelley, who was 21 at the time, was found at a bus station in El Paso, Texas, after he escaped from Peak Behavioral Health Services, located in Santa Teresa, N.M.
According to the police report filed by officers with the El Paso Police Department, the person who reported Kelley missing told officers he had “suffered from mental disorders” and “was attempting to carry out death threats” made against “his military chain of command.”
The person speaking with law enforcement also told police Kelley “was a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms into Holloman Air Force Base.”
According to the report, an entry on the incident was submitted to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database.
Kelley, who served in the Air Force from 2010 to 2014, was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and stepson in 2012. He received a bad conduct discharge and spent one year in prison.
Kelley opened fire on parishioners at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs on Sunday, killing 26 and wounding 20.
