The U.S. Air Force has been ordered by a federal judge to pay the survivors and families of the 2017 mass shooting at the Sutherland Springs Church more than $230 million.
The Air Force failed to flag gunman Devin Kelley’s 2012 assault-related court-martial in the FBI database. That would have prevented Kelley from legally buying the gun used in the massacre, according to San Antonio Attorney Dan Sciano who represents one of the families.
In Nov. 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, killing more than two dozen people. (Authorities put the official death toll at 26 because one of the 25 people killed was pregnant.)
Kelley, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church, had served in the Air Force before the attack.
Lawyers for survivors and relatives of those killed had asked for $418 million, while the Justice Department proposed $31.8 million.
Kelley had served nearly five years in the Air Force before being discharged in 2014 for bad conduct, after he was convicted of assaulting a former wife and stepson, cracking the child’s skull. The Air Force has publicly acknowledged that the felony conviction for domestic violence, had it been put into the FBI database, could have prevented Kelley from buying guns from licensed firearms dealers, and also from possessing body armor.
In July 2021, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in San Antonio wrote in a ruling signed Wednesday that the Air Force was “60% responsible" for the deaths and injuries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
