Devin P. Kelley: Texas Church Shooting Gunman Once Escaped From A New Mexico Mental Facility

Devin P. Kelley, the man who shot and killed 26 people in a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church, escaped from a New Mexico mental institution in 2012, the New York Times is reporting.

Based on a 2012 police report from El Paso, Texas, it appears that Kelley was sent to Peak Behavioral Health Services, a hospital just across the border in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, following allegations that he had made death threats against his superiors and had attempted to smuggle weapons onto Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he was stationed at the time.

Just before midnight on June 7, 2012, according to KPRC (Houston), El Paso police apprehended Kelley at the bus station in El Paso. It appears that Kelley made his escape and had either walked or hitchhiked the 12 miles from the hospital to the downtown El Paso bus station. It is believed he had planned on taking a bus and disappearing.

According to the El Paso police report, a hospital employee had warned them that Kelley was a danger to himself and others and suffered from mental disorders.

El Paso cops who interviewed Kelley say he didn’t make any statements indicating he was planning on carrying out death threats. Nevertheless, he was taken back across the border into New Mexico and handed over to the Sunland Park Police Department, just across the New Mexico state line. What happened after that remains unclear.

According to CNN, Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 for two counts of violating Article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ): assault on his spouse and assault on their child. Those assaults occurred between April 27, 2011, and June 16, 2011. Kelley was given a general court-martial on November 7, 2012. He pleaded guilty to one count each of assault on a child and the assault on his wife; the other assault charges against him were dismissed “with prejudice.” He was given a bad conduct discharge and sentenced to 12 months of confinement. His rank was also reduced to the grade of E-1.

Meanwhile, Texas authorities are still trying to piece together how Kelley was able to purchase his weapons, as his conviction for assault should have shown up on a background check. According to the Guardian, that conviction should have prevented him from owning guns, but the record was never entered into the database.

[Featured Image by Texas Department of Public Safety/AP Images]