The Justice Department has agreed to pay $144.5 million to survivors and families of victims of the Sutherland Springs mass shooting to end litigation filed over the Air Force's failure to help prevent the massacre.
Investigators work at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on November 5, 2017. Lawyers for survivors and families of the victims of the Sutherland Springs mass shooting have reached a tentative $144.5 million deal with the Justice Department to settle litigation filed over the government's failure to help prevent the massacre.
During a Sunday service, disgraced former airman Devin Kelley opened fire at the church with an AR-556 rifle, killing 26 people and wounding more than 20 others. His wife attended the church, but Kelley had tied her up at their New Braunfels home before going on the rampage in Sutherland Springs, about 35 miles to the south.
Kelley was booted from the Air Force in 2014 because of his propensity for violence. Before his discharge, he was convicted of domestic violence for seriously injuring his infant stepson and was sent to jail for a year. He had been barred from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico because he threatened superiors and brought firearms onto the base.
After a trial in spring 2021, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled the following July that the Air Force was 60 percent responsible for the shooting and Kelley was 40 percent responsible. Testimony showed that for more than 30 years, the Air Force failed to report thousands of violent felons, including Kelley, to the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That system is designed to prevent convicted criminals from purchasing or possessing firearms. Without that flag, Kelley was able to buy guns from licensed dealers.
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