Family who lost 8 in Texas church shooting suing Air Force

Tuesday, November 28, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (KTRK) -- The Air Force's admission was both stunning and dangerous.

Investigators found several dozen cases where criminal convictions were not reported to the FBI.

That is a real problem because the FBI uses that information in gun background checks.

It's the same problem that allowed the Sutherland Springs shooter to buy guns.

Devin Kelley used them to kill 26 people inside the First Baptist Church in that small Texas town.

If you are convicted of a felony or any kind of domestic abuse, you should fail a background check to buy a gun.

But since the Air Force failed to report it, Kelley was able to purchase the guns without a single issue.
Since the shooting, the Air Force has reviewed 60,000 serious cases.

But today they announced Kelley's lapse was "not an isolated incident," and blamed dozens of lapses on a lack of training and compliance measures.

Also today, the parents of Bryan Holcombe announced they plan to sue the Air Force, claiming the shooting death of three generations of the Holcombe family can be blamed entirely or in part on the Air Force's failure to report Kelley's convictions.

Nine members of the Holcombe family died in the November 5th shooting.

Families in Sutherland Springs prepare for first Christmas after deadly shooting
Christmas tree memorializes Sutherland Spring shooting victims


Timeline of church shooting in Sutherland Springs
'Multiple people dead' after Texas church shooting


New Braunfels man walks with cross in memory of church shooting victims
Man walks with cross in memory of Texas church shooting victims


Report a typo to the ABC13 staff
Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.