Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that DPS has confirmed the shooter’s identity.
President Donald Trump called the shooter who killed 26 people at a church outside of San Antonio on Sunday a “very deranged individual” who has a “mental health problem at the highest level.”
At a press conference on Sunday, law enforcement officials said it was too early to speculate on a motive for the killings. But Trump said the shooter — who is 26-year-old Devin Kelley of Comal County, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed in a tweet this morning — had “a lot of problems over a long period of time.”
“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country — as do other countries — but this isn’t a guns situation,” Trump said while speaking at an event in Japan. “I mean, we could go into it but it’s a little bit soon to go into it. But, fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction.”
On Sunday, Kelley entered First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs and opened fire. The victims range from a 5-year-old to a 72-year-old and included the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter. DPS said it would provide more updates on the shooting throughout the day.
“We’re not sure if that number will rise or not,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday night at a news conference. “This will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain. These people were innocently gunned down.”
About 20 others were taken to hospitals yesterday with “minor” to “very severe” injuries.
Officials say when the shooter was confronted by a local resident with a gun, he fled the scene. He was later found dead in his car. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Kelley served in the Air Force but received a bad conduct discharge after he was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse and child.
Check back here for updates throughout the day.
Source: Texas Tribune Blue News
