{"id":33745,"date":"2018-09-20T20:48:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T20:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/20\/texas-church-shooting-lawsuits-against-air-force-combined\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:04:23","slug":"texas-church-shooting-lawsuits-against-air-force-combined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2018\/09\/20\/texas-church-shooting-lawsuits-against-air-force-combined\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas church shooting lawsuits against Air Force combined"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas \u2014 All federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/12\/26\/cities-sue-defense-department-over-gun-check-system-failures\/\" target=\"_blank\">lawsuits against the U.S. Air Force<\/a> over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/2017\/11\/05\/gunman-opens-fire-in-texas-church-killing-multiple-people\/\" target=\"_blank\">Texas church shooting<\/a> last year that left more than two dozen worshippers dead will be consolidated into one case, a judge says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra announced Wednesday that the lawsuits will be combined and handled by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressnews.com\/news\/local\/article\/Sutherland-Springs-lawsuits-to-be-consolidated-13242740.php\" target=_blank>San Antonio Express-News<\/a> reported. Four lawsuits have been filed so far by victims or their relatives. More are expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/04\/27\/5-years-before-massacre-gunman-promised-military-judge-not-to-hurt-anyone\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18116743143638.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">5 years before massacre, gunman promised military judge not to hurt anyone<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The gunman in a mass shooting at a Texas church last year told a military judge in 2012 he \u201cwould never allow myself to hurt someone\u201d again while admitting to abusing his stepson and a long struggle with anger, according to Air Force records obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuits allege that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2017\/11\/07\/air-force-investigates-mistakes-that-allowed-texas-church-shooter-to-get-guns\/\" target=_blank>the Air Force was negligent <\/a>for failing to report the convictions of gunman Devin Kelley, who opened fire Nov. 5 at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Kelley later killed himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force admitted shortly after the massacre that the agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2017\/11\/09\/air-force-texas-shooters-history-should-have-been-reported\/\" target=\"_blank\">failed to report Kelley\u2019s past crimes<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/11\/07\/pentagon-has-known-of-crime-reporting-lapses-for-20-years\/\" target=\"_blank\">a federal database<\/a>, which allowed him to pass a background check and obtain the guns he used in the slaying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18116743143638.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18116743143638.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18116743143638.jpg.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18116743143638.jpg.jpg?resize=768,576 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Devin Patrick Kelley, the gunman in a mass shooting at a Texas church last year told a military judge in 2012 that he &#8220;would never allow myself to hurt someone&#8221; again while confessing to violently hitting his stepson. The Pentagon on Thursday, April 26, 2018, released hundreds of court documents about the former Air Force member, who killed more than two dozen people during a rampage in Sutherland Springs, Texas. (Texas Department of Public Safety via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kelley, an Air Force veteran, had a history of violence. He was discharged in 2014 for bad conduct after he was convicted of beating his first wife and injuring his stepson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This court has great sympathy for the victims and their families,&#8221; Ezra said. &#8220;It makes no sense to have these cases spread out.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuits likely face multiple hurdles, including the doctrine of sovereign immunity that makes it nearly impossible to sue the federal government. But the Federal Tort Claims Act allows individuals to seek damages in limited cases if they can prove direct negligence by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2017\/11\/28\/after-texas-church-shooting-air-force-finds-dozens-of-similar-crime-reporting-lapses\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP17309720617612.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">After Texas church shooting, Air Force finds dozens of similar crime reporting lapses<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Air Force on Tuesday said it has found dozens of database reporting lapses of the same kind that may have allowed the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooter to buy guns despite his domestic violence conviction.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attorney Jamal Alsaffar is handling three separate lawsuits filed by survivors or their relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s been almost a year since this horrible thing happened, and the government has done very little to move this case. In fact, they\u2019ve done nothing,\u201d Alsaffar said. \u201cThe quicker we can get the cases together and move forward so that these families&#8217; cases can be addressed openly and transparently &#8230; the better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All federal lawsuits against the U.S. Air Force over a Texas church shooting last year that left more than two dozen worshippers dead will be consolidated into one case, a judge says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-33745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6CLQVSYSBBESHKXEIQU2LGN3AM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/20\/texas-church-shooting-lawsuits-against-air-force-combined\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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