Air force failed to submit Devin Kelley’s fingerprints to the FBI after he was accused of violent crimes dating back to June 2011

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The US air force missed four chances to stop the gunman who killed 26 people at a church in Texas in 2017 buying guns after he was accused of violent crimes while in the military, a report by the Department of Defense’s inspector general said on Friday.

Because the air force failed to submit Devin Kelley’s fingerprints to the FBI, the former airman cleared background checks to buy the guns he used at First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs.

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Kelley, who was 26, was shot by a bystander as he fled and was found dead soon after, having shot himself in the head.

According to the inspector general’s report, the first missed chance came in June 2011, after the air force office of special investigations began investigating a report of Kelley beating his stepson while based in New Mexico.

The second chance came in February 2012, after the air force learned of allegations Kelley was beating his wife.

The third was in June 2012, when Kelley confessed on video to injuring his stepson.

The fourth was after Kelley’s court-martial conviction for the assaults in November 2013.

“If Kelley’s fingerprints were submitted to the FBI, he would have been prohibited from purchasing a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer,” the report said.

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Each missed instance was a breach of policy, the report said. Multiple officials did not understand policies or were unable to explain why they were not followed.

The inspector general recommended that the air force improve training and examine whether officials should face discipline.

Previous reports have found widespread lapses in military reporting of criminal histories to the FBI.

The air force agreed with the inspector general’s findings and said they matched the conclusions of its own investigation, a spokeswoman said. The air force said it has been correcting other instances where it failed to submit fingerprints to the FBI, going back to 1998.