Air Force Ordered to Pay More Than $230 Million in Church Shooting

Air Force Ordered to Pay More Than $230 Million in Church Shooting
Texas church shooting gunman Devin Patrick Kelley (L). An aerial photo (R) showing the site of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2017. Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
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SAN ANTONIO—The U.S. Air Force must pay more than $230 million in damages to survivors and victims’ families of a 2017 Texas church massacre for failing to flag a conviction that might have kept the gunman from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting, a federal judge ruled Monday.

More than two dozen people were killed when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Kelley, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church, had served in the Air Force before the attack.