TX - 26 dead, 20 injured in church shooting, Sutherland Springs, 5 Nov 2017 #2

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Is it just me, or is this shooting being lost in the media right now? It seems to me, that the media is recalling Las Vegas especially, and other mass shootings, without mention of the horror of TX in between. But it could be oversight on my part because I'm not following Florida that closely.

I'm just thinking of these folks right now and this seemed like the most appropriate place to remember them.
 
Is it just me, or is this shooting being lost in the media right now? It seems to me, that the media is recalling Las Vegas especially, and other mass shootings, without mention of the horror of TX in between. But it could be oversight on my part because I'm not following Florida that closely.

I'm just thinking of these folks right now and this seemed like the most appropriate place to remember them.
Bump

This we probably posted up thread but wanted to add it here now in light of all the current backlash and copycats coming out of the woodwork.

From November 11, 2017.

Authorities on Friday arrested two people accused of making separate threats of mass shootings — one of them a Manor High School student who allegedly threatened a Columbine-style attack at his school and the other a woman who showed up at a South Austin church with a shotgun, according to reports.

In the first incident, an assistant principal at Manor High School contacted a school resource officer Friday about what she considered a threat to the safety of the school, according to an arrest affidavit.

Police investigated and found a Snapchat video posted that morning by 17-year-old Rafael Gamboa, under the username of “School Shooter.”

Police said the video showed the student standing behind bushes and other students at a pep rally in the school’s courtyard with the caption, “Loads glock, oh i’ll make y’all red.”

In the second incident, a man at a learning center attached to Bannockburn Baptist Church in South Austin said he heard a woman with a child trying to enter the locked building on Friday. Assuming she was a parent, the man let her in, the affidavit said.

The woman, later identified as Lindsey Holeman, 27, entered, placed the child on the floor and said, “There’s a gun on my car. I have shells. Look, I will give you the shells. I have one for each of you,” according to an affidavit.

More at link:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local...h-south-austin-church/1MMkGx1smHfJIJCJebwHQL/
 
Four months after 26 people were shot and killed during a church service in Sutherland Springs, those who lost loved ones in the massacre are being haunted by conspiracy theorists who claim it didn’t happen.

Fifty-four-year-old Robert Ussery and his partner, Jodi Mann, were arrested by Wilson County Sheriff’s Deputies Monday after harassing the pastor of First Baptist Church and another member of the congregation.

Wow. The dark underbelly of CT at work. [emoji20]

More at link:
http://www.ktsa.com/conspiracy-theorists-arrested-in-sutherland-springs/
 
'I'll Be Right Back,' Texas Church Gunman Told Family Before Killing 26
AUGUST 13, 2018 • 3:36 PM ET
On the November morning before he shot 26 people to death in a small-town Texas church, Devin Kelley tied his wife to their bed and told their crying 2-year-old boy not to worry. "I'll be right back," he said.

Danielle Kelley disclosed these new details, and others, to the San Antonio Express-News. Restrained to the bed with rope, handcuffs and duct tape, she told the newspaper she watched in horror as Devin strapped on a bullet-proof vest and left with two handguns and a semi-automatic Ruger 556 rifle.
[...]
"We all have our demons," Devin Kelley's wife, Danielle, says. "No matter what, I will love him. Even though he went off and ruined more people's lives than I could ever imagine."
[...]
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church mass shooting civil trial started today...and it sounds like it was :eek::confused::mad::(!

Briefly, the victims & families are suing the federal government for inadequately maintaining the national database meant to prevent violent criminals from being able to purchase firearms.

They believe that if Air Force officials had properly reported the shooter's violent history to the FBI while he was enlisted, the shooter would not have been able to purchase the guns he used to kill 26 churchgoers and himself in 2017.

The shooters wife, Danielle Smith, took the stand and spoke of a life of abuse going back to early childhood that just about broke my heart. And, according to the below article, she also testified to some new details that she's never revealed before -- not even in her depositions.

Wife of Texas Church Shooter Testifies in Trial Against Feds

MODS, If this should be posted in the Current Trials forum instead, please let me know. I don't post often even though I'm an avid Websleuths reader.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church mass shooting civil trial started today...and it sounds like it was :eek::confused::mad::(!

Briefly, the victims & families are suing the federal government for inadequately maintaining the national database meant to prevent violent criminals from being able to purchase firearms.

They believe that if Air Force officials had properly reported the shooter's violent history to the FBI while he was enlisted, the shooter would not have been able to purchase the guns he used to kill 26 churchgoers and himself in 2017.

The shooters wife, Danielle Smith, took the stand and spoke of a life of abuse going back to early childhood that just about broke my heart. And, according to the below article, she also testified to some new details that she's never revealed before -- not even in her depositions.

Wife of Texas Church Shooter Testifies in Trial Against Feds

MODS, If this should be posted in the Current Trials forum instead, please let me know. I don't post often even though I'm an avid Websleuths reader.

good lord, that’s heartbreaking. And she’s seemingly had a lifetime of not just abuse but being scapegoated.
 
Devin Kelley handcuffed his wife at home before he killed 26 people



Wife of Sutherland Spring’s church shooter takes stand as trial begins in lawsuit against the U.S. government

“SAN ANTONIO
– A trial began Wednesday in a federal district court in San Antonio stemming from the 2017 Sutherland Springs massacre that left 26 people dead.

The case is a lawsuit filed in 2018 by the victims’ families of the First Baptist Church mass shooting against the United States government. The families allege that failure by the U.S. Air Force to properly flag shooter Devin Kelley in a national background check database following a domestic violence conviction allowed Kelley to lawfully obtain the weapon used in the slayings.

Kelley was convicted on domestic violence charges in connection with a series of incidents that included fracturing his stepson’s skull and choking and pointing a gun at his then-wife in 2012.“



Sutherland Springs gunman's widow tells of extreme abuse, obsession with guns

“Cameras were not allowed in federal court.

But we heard horrific testimony from the widow of the Sutherland Springs shooter who had been abused and essentially kept captive by him for years.

According to his widow, Danielle Smith, Kelly used to abuse her sexually and physically for years, even tying her to the bed and threatening to kill her family if she left.”



Sutherland Springs shooting victims in court over lawsuit against the federal government
The survivors are suing the government, arguing the Air Force could have done more to prevent the shooting.

“On November 5, 2017, 26 people were killed and more than 20 others were hurt when Devin Kelley opened fire on worshippers.

The lawsuit alleges the Air Force is liable in the shooting because the Air Force knew and should have flagged Kelley's history of domestic violence and other concerns. The lawsuit says placing his name in a national database would have prevented him from being able to buy guns, including the assault-style rifle like the one he used in the shooting.“

Sutherland Springs shooting victims in court over lawsuit against the federal government | kens5.com
*video at link
 
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Legal Analyst Daniel Conrad (@cucumbermarg) is live tweeting this trial and doing a bang-up job imho. He's with @CourthouseNews.

The shooter's wife's mother (Michelle Smith, who adopted Danielle Smith with the [now ex] husband that sexually molested Danielle) took the stand this AM.

She testified about the many, many, MANY folks who mistreated Danielle horribly throughout her life, enabled the shooter's continued abuse, stood by and did nothing, and/or actively blamed her for being raped as a child and an adult. This includes the police.

It's enraging, a cornucopia of wrong.

This, plus the Derek Chauvin trial? Very hard going!
 
Air Force Ordered to Pay $230 Million to Victims of 2017 Church Shooting

Air Force Ordered to Pay $230 Million to Victims of 2017 Church Shooting

A federal judge ordered the U.S. Air Force on Monday to pay more than $230 million to the survivors and the families of the victims of a 2017 shooting at a Texas church because the Air Force had failed to report the gunman’s criminal history.

Mr. Kelley received a “bad conduct” discharge from the Air Force in 2014 after almost five years of service.

After the shooting, the Air Force acknowledged its error, saying that it should have reported Mr. Kelley’s conviction to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A conviction should have prevented him from buying guns.
 
A conviction should have prevented him from buying guns.
The reporter's statement above is not entirely accurate.

A recorded conviction would have prevented him from buying guns from licensed dealers (required to run back ground checks).

He could still have purchased guns via "private sales" where background checks are not run. This would have required more effort from him.

My general impressions is that readily available buying opportunities through "private sales" have declined steadily. But.... they can still be found with a little bit of effort.
 
Air Force Ordered to Pay $230 Million to Victims of 2017 Church Shooting

Air Force Ordered to Pay $230 Million to Victims of 2017 Church Shooting

A federal judge ordered the U.S. Air Force on Monday to pay more than $230 million to the survivors and the families of the victims of a 2017 shooting at a Texas church because the Air Force had failed to report the gunman’s criminal history.

Mr. Kelley received a “bad conduct” discharge from the Air Force in 2014 after almost five years of service.

After the shooting, the Air Force acknowledged its error, saying that it should have reported Mr. Kelley’s conviction to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A conviction should have prevented him from buying guns.

Why isn't someone being prosecuted for this like the Crumbleys?
 

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