Texas
officials confirm church massacre suspect’s ID as Devin Patrick Kelley

SUTHERLAND
SPRINGS, Texas (AP) — The Latest on the church shooting in Texas (all times
local):

8:35 a.m.

Officials in Texas have confirmed
the identity of the man suspected of killing 26 people at a South Texas church.

The Texas Department of Public
Safety on Monday morning said 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley is the suspect.
DPS said that Kelly lived in New Braunfels, which is about 35 miles north of
the Sutherland Springs where the shooting occurred.

Devin
Patrick Kelley has been identified by news sources as the attacker that shot
and killed more than 20 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday, November
5, 2017. (Facebook)

A
short time after the shooting Sunday, the suspect was found dead in his vehicle
at the county line.

On Sunday, two officials who
spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity had identified the
gunman as Kelley.

DPS says more information will be
released later Monday.

___

8:20 a.m.

A South Carolina musician with a
similar name as the man identified as the gunman in a mass shooting at a Texas
church says he’s frustrated by hateful message he’s received online.

Devin Patrick said on his
Facebook page late Sunday that he’s saddened by the shooting but at the First
Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. But Patrick says his only connection
with the tragedy is his name and asks people not to contact him about the
shooting.

Authorities have identified the
gunman as Devin Patrick Kelley. Officials say 26 people were killed Sunday in
an attack that claimed people ranging in age from 5 to 72 years old.

Authorities said about 20 others
were wounded. The suspect was later found dead in his vehicle.

___

8:10 a.m.

School districts surrounding a
South Texas town where a gunman killed 26 people at a church have added
counselors to help comfort children, their families and staff.

Sutherland Springs is a town of
about 400 that does not have its own school. Nearby districts offered messages
of caring and concern Monday, a day after the gunfire. Officials say the
victims ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old.

Superintendent Sherri Bays, of
the Floresville Independent School District, wrote: “Our hearts are breaking
for the families of the deceased and injured.”

District spokeswoman Kim Cathey
says some Sutherland Springs children attend Floresville ISD schools. Cathey
had no immediate information on whether any victims were from the district.

Similar messages of prayers and
support were offered by the Stockdale ISD and the La Vernia ISD.

___

7:45 a.m.

A sheriff says the former in-laws
of a man suspected of killing 26 people at a Texas church attended services
there “from time to time.”

Wilson County Sheriff Joe D.
Tackitt Jr. told CNN Monday morning that the former in-laws weren’t in
attendance Sunday when the shooting occurred. He says it wasn’t clear why the
gunman picked that day for the shooting.

The mass shooting occurred Sunday
morning at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, about 30 miles
southeast of San Antonio. About 20 others were wounded in the attack.

Two officials who spoke to The
Associated Press on the condition of anonymity identified the gunman as Devin
Kelley. An Air Force spokeswoman said records confirm Kelley received a bad
conduct discharge after being court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse
and child.

___

7:05 a.m.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is
suggesting there may have been a connection between the gunman who shot and
killed 26 people in a South Texas community and the Baptist church where the
slayings happened.

Abbott tells ABC’s “Good Morning
America” he expects people will learn about any such link “in a few days.” He
said he didn’t want to go further, saying “law enforcement is looking very
aggressively into this.”

“I don’t think this was just a
random act of violence,” Abbott told anchor George Stephanopoulos. But when
pressed to elaborate on his connection theory, the governor replied that “it’s
very important that law enforcement have the ability … to tie the loose ends of
this investigation up.”

He called the man, identified by
a U.S. official and one in law enforcement as Devin Kelley, “a very deranged
individual.”

___

3:30 a.m.

Authorities say a gunman armed
with an assault rifle opened fire inside a small South Texas church, killing 26
people who ranged in age from 5 to 72.

The mass shooting occurred Sunday
morning at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, about 30 miles
southeast of San Antonio. About 20 others were wounded in the attack.

Two officials who spoke to The
Associated Press on the condition of anonymity identified the gunman as Devin
Kelley. An Air Force spokeswoman said records confirm Kelley received a bad
conduct discharge after being court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse
and child.

Wilson County Sheriff Joe D.
Tackitt Jr. described the scene inside the church as “terrible.”

Investigators have not yet
determined a motive for the attack.