Church shooter escaped mental health facility months after attack on wife, child (tr)

Click 2 Houston (NBC affiliate) ^ | November 07, 2017 | Mario Diaz , Cathy Tatom , Aaron Wische

[ETL]

Ex-facility official says Kelley made death threats and tried to buy weapons

HOUSTON - Channel 2 Investigates obtained law enforcement documents revealing Devin Kelley escaped from a behavioral center in New Mexico a little more than five years before Sunday’s deadly rampage in Sutherland Springs.

The incident report, filed by the El Paso Police Department, states Kelley was picked up at a bus terminal in downtown El Paso before midnight on the evening of June 7, 2012. The report states two officers were dispatched to the terminal to look into a missing-person report.

READ: Incident report on Devin Kelley

When they arrived, the two officers learned Kelley had escaped from Peak Behavioral Health Services, a mental health facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, that has a dedicated unit for service members and veterans.

Xavier Alvarez, who was the director of military affairs for Peak Behavioral Health at the time, told the officers on scene that Kelley, who was 21 years old at the time, had “suffered from mental disorders and had plans to run to from Peak Behavioral Health Services” by purchasing a bus ticket out of state.

NBC News spoke with Alvarez, who according to the police report, said he informed officers that Kelley “was a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms onto Holloman Air Force base,” located approximately 100 miles from the bus terminal. The report further states that Kelley “was attempting to carry out death threats” he had made on his military superiors.

Alvarez told NBC News Kelley was ordered to Peak Behavioral Health Services by the military.

On the day of the escape, Alvarez told NBC News he was home when he received a call at 1 or 2 in the morning that Kelley had absconded.

"He jumped a fence," he said.

The facility is in a desolate area. Alvarez jumped in his truck and began driving through the desert while other Peak staffers were talking to patients "to get any clues to what transpired."

"It turned out that several times he had mentioned he was practicing for a 12-mile run. So I asked Siri, 'What is the distance to the Greyhound station' and lo and behold, it was 12 miles," Alvarez told NBC News.

Alvarez called Sunland Park and El Paso police and El Paso police created a perimeter around the Greyhound station.

Alvarez sat there in the dark, watching for Kelley's arrival. He saw a taxicab pull up and he crept over to it; when it pulled away, he and Kelley were "eye to eye."

"Because he made a reaction as if he was going to run, I quickly restrained him. He put up no fight. He laid on the ground and police were there in seconds," Alvarez said.

He noted Kelley was wet.

"He thought he was going to be tracked and he went through the river to cover these tracks."

"He was very quiet, but he did mention that given the opportunity he would try to go for the [officers'] guns," Alvarez said.

When he went back to the facility, Alvarez told NBC News Kelley was very docile. He was there only a couple of weeks before the military picked him up for his court-martial.

Alvarez confirmed that during his time at Peak, "he [Kelley] had verbalized that he wanted to get some kind of retribution to his chain of command."

He said other patients also reported that Kelley seemed to be up to something on the computers they were allowed to use to pay bills, etc. The military examined the computers and it turned out "he was ordering weapons and tactical gear to a PO Box in San Antonio," Alvarez told NBC News.

He said he could not talk about Kelley's diagnosis but added, "I had a very strong relationship with all the service members but this kid -- he was hollow. I could never reach him."

He said that after Kelley was identified as the suspect, one of his former colleagues contacted him. The message? "We stopped the first one."

El Paso police officers spoke with Kelley after finding him at the terminal. The report states he did not make threatening comments.

READ: Military Discharges Explained

Kelley was released to police officers from Sunland Park Police Department in New Mexico, located just across the state line.

The report states there was an entry submitted to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database.

The El Paso incident took place months after Air Force documents state Kelley had attacked his wife by striking and kicking her and pulling her hair. Kelley, according to the documents, also pointed a loaded firearm at her.

Kelley was also charged with unlawfully striking his child on various occasions between April 27, 2011, and June 16, 2011. Records indicate Kelley plead “G” (guilty) to assault on a child and the assault on his wife. Records show he pleaded “NG” (not guilty) on the others that were “withdrawn and dismissed with prejudice” after Kelley’s arraignment.

Kelley received a general court martial and was sentenced Nov. 7, 2012. He was handed a bad conduct discharge, 12 months of confinement and a reduction in rank to the grade of E-1.

The sentence came exactly five months to the day after the attempted escape from the behavioral facility in southern New Mexico.

An Air Force spokesperson told Channel 2 Investigates that they cannot comment on the 2012 report, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Rick Rousseau, a retired Army Colonel and Judge Advocate for 27 years, said he is not surprised that Kelley may have been in a behavioral facility in the midst of his legal battles.

“It would be a normal course of negotiation that he had been in behavioral health in advance of going to court," he said.

Rousseau also added that if the move was a preventative measure by Kelley and his team that it probably would have been revealed.

“At a minimum the defense attorney may have told the prosecutor," Rousseau said.

[ETL]

This story had been posted here already, but this article goes into a lot more detail.

[ETL]

Texas Gunman Broke Skull of Infant Stepson in 2012 Assault

New York Times ^ | NOV. 6, 2017 | DAVE PHILIPPS and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

“He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull, and he also assaulted his wife,” said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force.

“He pled to intentionally doing it.”

...He was sentenced in November of that year to 12 months’ confinement and reduction to the lowest possible rank.

After his confinement, he was discharged from the military with a bad conduct discharge.

..." The case marked a long downward slide that included divorce...

After Mr. Kelley was discharged from the Air Force in 2014, he remarried in Texas, to Danielle Lee Shields, in April of that year, according to state records.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...

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Texas shooter had threatened churchgoing mother-in-law

New York Post ^ | November 6, 2017 | Max Jaeger

The maniac who killed 26 people inside a Texas church Sunday threatened his parishioner mother-in-law, officials revealed Monday.

Devin Patrick Kelley "made threatening text messages to his mother-in-law who went to the church” said Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin.

The woman, who was not named, attends the church but was not there during the massacre Sunday, authorities said. Martin would not say whether the woman's membership with the church motivated Kelley.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

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Texas shooter went to church festival days before massacre

By Ruth Brown
Nov 7, 2017

The Texas church shooter attended a ​festival at the chapel just days before he opened fire on congregants, according to a report.

Five days before his ​bloody ​massacre, Devin Patrick Kelley brought his kids to the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs' fall festival - a Halloween event with games, a bouncy house and a petting zoo, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The troubled Airman was estranged from his wife and had been ​involved in a feud with his mother-in-law - a member of the congregation - so other church members saw his presence as the event as a positive step.

"They thought, '​O​h this is good. This is progress,'" Tambria Read, a friend of Kelley’s mother-in-law told the paper.

His mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, was particularly pleased to see her son-in-law at the church event with her grandkids, Read told the Chronicle.

Kelley had been sending her threatening texts before the shooting, according to law enforcement officials — but she wasn’t inside when he attacked.

http://nypost.com/2017/11/07/texas-shooter-went-to-church-festival-days-before-massacre/

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“Old school friends described Kelley, who lived in nearby New Braunfels, Texas, as a “creep” who made no secret of his anti-religious views.

Nina Rose Nava, who went to school with Kelley, said: “He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism.’...”--NY Times

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https://everipedia.org/wiki/danielle-lee-shields/

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Devin Kelley: Texas shooter killed his wife’s grandma in church massacre

Mythili Sampathkumar

Police have confirmed that Devin Kelley, the gunman who killed 26 and injured 20 in the Texas church mass shooting, also killed his grandmother-in-law in the church.

Lula Woicinski White, a 71-year-old member and volunteer at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, was Mr Kelley’s wife’s grandmother.

Mr Kelley’s in-laws and second wife Danielle were also members of the church, but none were present during the day of the shooting according to police. ...”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/devin-kelley-texas-shooting-grandma-wife-victims-kill-latest-news-updates-a8041091.html
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[ClearCase_guy]

Crazy people should be in a State Hospital. And in some cases, crazy people should be shackled to the wall.

We used to do that. Then we lost the stomach, and decided to be nice to everyone all the time. I feel that this type of mistake should be re-visited.

[ETL]

From the article...

“Kelley was released to police officers from Sunland Park Police Department in New Mexico, located just across the state line.

The report states there was an entry submitted to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database.

The El Paso incident took place months after Air Force documents state Kelley had attacked his wife by striking and kicking her and pulling her hair. Kelley, according to the documents, also pointed a loaded firearm at her.

Kelley was also charged with unlawfully striking his child on various occasions between April 27, 2011, and June 16, 2011. Records indicate Kelley plead “G” (guilty) to assault on a child and the assault on his wife.

Records show he pleaded “NG” (not guilty) on the others that were “withdrawn and dismissed with prejudice” after Kelley’s arraignment.

Kelley received a general court martial and was sentenced Nov. 7, 2012. He was handed a bad conduct discharge, 12 months of confinement and a reduction in rank to the grade of E-1.”

[hoosiermama]

Wonder if he was married in the church? Wouldn’t be the first atheist married in a church

[ETL]

“In 2012, while stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Mr. Kelley was charged with assault, according to Air Force records, which said he had repeatedly struck, kicked and choked his first wife beginning just months into their marriage, and hit his stepson’s head with what the Air Force described as “a force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm.”

“He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull,” said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force, adding, “He pled to intentionally doing it.”

Prosecutors withdrew several other charges as part of their plea agreement with Mr. Kelley, including allegations that he repeatedly pointed a loaded gun at his wife.

He was ultimately sentenced in November that year to 12 months’ confinement and reduction to the lowest possible rank. His final duty title was “prisoner.” ...”

After getting out of confinement, Mr. Kelley moved into a barn at his parents’ house, which they had converted into an apartment, according to the local sheriff’s office records.

During the next two years, he was investigated twice for abusing women. The authorities in Comal County, which includes Mr. Kelley’s hometown New Braunfels, released records on Monday that showed he had been the subject of an investigation for sexual assault and rape in 2013.

The investigation ended without the filing of any charges — Mr. Kelley’s only skirmishes in the local courts were traffic violations.

Less than a year after the sexual assault report, deputies were summoned again after Mr. Kelley’s girlfriend at the time, Danielle Shields, reportedly sent a text message to a friend saying she was being abused.

Deputies who responded told a dispatcher, according to the report, that it was a “misunderstanding and teenage drama.” Mr. Kelley married Ms. Shields two months later, local records show. ...”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/us/devin-patrick-kelley-texas.html

[ETL]

“After getting out of confinement, Mr. Kelley moved into a barn at his parents’ house, which they had converted into an apartment, according to the local sheriff’s office records.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/us/devin-patrick-kelley-texas.html

_________________________________________

[ETL]

Wonder if he was married in the church? Wouldn’t be the first atheist married in a church

His current wife is reportedly a member of that church, along with her mother and now dead grandmother who the lowlife nut shot and killed. But I do not know if they were married there.

[ETL]

Yes, thanks to the efforts of insane, stupid Liberals.

[ETL]

Wasn’t very nice to animals either...

“He had a puppy that he kept tied up in the sun all day outside his RV without water, she said. She also recalled an episode in which the police were called because he had struck the dog repeatedly in the head.

Records show Mr. Kelley was charged with cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor, in August 2014, pleaded guilty and was given a deferred sentence. He moved out a few weeks later, she said.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/us/devin-patrick-kelley-texas.html

[Seruzawa]

100% correlation between mass shootings and prior psychiatric treatments. This is otherwise known as a clue.

[A_Former_Democrat]

So the only way this guy could be stopped was . .

A Good Guy with a gun

[JohnnyP]

“He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull,” said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force, adding, “He pled to intentionally doing it.”

Was he charged with attempted murder?

[ETL]

You should have started that question off with “Why wasn’t he...”

[JohnnyP]

I thought well, maybe he was and that was part of his 12 month sentence.

[ETL]

I don’t know the answer, but it would be unimaginable if he was charged with attempted murder of an infant then placed in “confinement” for a mere 12 months. But then, who knows? This is a crazy world we live in.

[magna carta]

yep. There is no place to put them now. This can also mean family members including the parents are held hostage...live in fear, etc....
My mom was bipolar and they can be a hand full, she was committed 3-4 times during her life and given lithium, Prozac, etc... but nobody can make patients take pills, eventually they get off them if they dont like the side effects. My mom as she got older had no more episodes. She was not violent though.
Obviously this guy was super dangerous. If he escaped a mental institution one cannot say the parents did nothing I’m sure they spent lots of money on this nightmare but even so there are probably legal limits to keeping them forever.
TIME TO BRING BACK INSTITUTIONALIZATION.

[topher]

Who was president in all this happened and this lunatic did not get flagged to not be able to buy firearms?

DingBat Obama, oops, I mean former President Barrack Obama, who worships the FALSE god of basketball, the FALSE god of Golf, the FALSE god of football. With some many gods, he must be a PAGAN or just an ATHEIST by belief.