Texas Church Shooting Victims Include 8 Members Of Single Family

UPDATE: 4:55 p.m. EST – The family who lost eight people in Sunday’s mass shooting at a Texas church was identified as the Holcombe family. Eight members of the family spanning three generations were killed after Devin Kelley opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, the Washington Post reported.

Bryan Holcombe was walking to the pulpit to lead worshippers when Kelley started shooting. Bryan and his wife were both killed, as were multiple other members of the family, including an infant girl and an unborn child.

Original story:

The victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas included eight members of a single family. At least 26 people were killed during a Sunday morning when gunman Devin Kelley opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in the town, about 30 miles east of San Antonio.

The rampage left about four percent of the town’s population dead, according to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt. Among those at the church that morning, almost nobody was unharmed.

“I think nearly everyone had some type of injury,” Tackitt told reporters Monday.

Of the 26 people killed, eight victims were members of the same family, a relative and community leader confirmed to CNN. The relatives spanned three generations and included a woman who was five months pregnant as well as three of her children. The identities of the victims had not yet been officially released, pending notification of their next of kin.

The victims of the shooting ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old, Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin confirmed Monday. Among those killed was the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor.

Authorities were still working to determine Kelley’s motive but said there were domestic issues at play. Kelley’s mother in law apparently attended the church and had previously received threatening messages from him, Martin said during a Monday morning press conference.

“We know that his ex-in-laws or in-laws came to church here from time to time,” Tackitt told CNN Monday. “They were not here yesterday. So we don’t know why he actually showed up yesterday.”

Kelley was a former member of the United States Air Force but was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his spouse and child, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told reporters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the shooting the worst in the state’s history.

“I don’t think this was just a random act of violence,” Abott said on “Good Morning America” Monday. “It was two things: one is a very deranged individual who, I understand, long before he was dishonorably discharged from the United States military was demonstrating some mental illness challenges.”

Authorities said they were looking into Kelley’s social media activity to glean additional information.