More responsible than the shooter, by 60/40?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a...shooting-11625668388

Air Force Found Largely Responsible for Texas Church Shooting

Military branch failed to enter the gunman’s criminal history into federal background check database used for gun purchases, judge finds

A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Air Force bears most of the responsibility for the 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, because it failed to enter the shooter’s criminal history into a federal background check database used for gun purchases.

The decision Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the Western District of Texas comes in a civil lawsuit brought by survivors and families of victims of the massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, which left 26 people dead. The 26-year-old gunman, former Airman Devin Kelley, killed himself shortly after the attack, the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.

In his decision, Judge Rodriguez said the Air Force bore 60% of the responsibility for the shooting and ordered parties to set a trial plan within 15 days to assess monetary damages for the survivors and victims’ families in the case.

“The trial conclusively established that no other individual—not even Kelley’s own parents or partners—knew as much as the United States about the violence that Devin Kelley had threatened to commit and was capable of committing,” the judge wrote. “Moreover, the evidence shows that—had the Government done its job and properly reported Kelley’s information into the background check system—it is more likely than not that Kelley would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting.”

Kelley had been convicted in a 2012 general court-martial on two counts of domestic assault on his wife and their child and sentenced to a year in military jail, which should have barred him from legally buying a gun. But the Air Force never entered his conviction into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which gun dealers must use to check for criminal records before selling someone a firearm. As a result, after being thrown out of the military, Kelley was able to purchase a rifle at a gun store, which he later used in the Sutherland Springs shooting...

Well... Thanks, your honor! There is no way the shooter could have obtained a gun by theft, or non FFL transaction in Texas, right?

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Well... Thanks, your honor! There is no way the shooter could have obtained a gun by theft, or non FFL transaction in Texas, right?

I guess according to this ruling, the US Air Force should be put in prison. They are mass murderers and the guy who pulled the trigger is just an accomplice.

I get that the Air Force screwed up, but saying they bear the MAJORITY of the responsibility by 60/40 is just weird.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I do not disagree with you, but it seems the USAF did not exercise due dilligence. His offenses were certainly not petty. They need to be more careful and this ruling should help.

Agree the AF screwed up. But to make the leap that the only way to obtain a gun was by an FFL background check is senseless.

The judge is a idiot. The shooter bears 100% of the responsibility for the shooting.
The AF bears 100% of the responsibility of not reporting the guy to NICS. Thats all.

Seems like this was tailor-made to get litigants BIG MONEY in the inevitable lawsuits to follow. Can't sue a dead guy (well, you probably could), but the USAF has a LOT more money than the shooter (whoever he was) likely did. By assigning the USAF the majority of the blame, the money-grubbing opportunists *cough* I mean grieving relatives can cash in on BIG MONEYY!!!!!!!!!!!!! *coughs again* I mean get the compensation they deserve for their loss. . .

quote:

Originally posted by PeteF:
The judge is a idiot. The shooter bears 100% of the responsibility for the shooting.
The AF bears 100% of the responsibility of not reporting the guy to NICS. Thats all.

This!

What about the FBI and other LEO Agencies that fail to report/enter prohibited persons that they have actively investigated and they later purchase a firearm with a clean NICS check?

The judge is doing this so they get big dollars.
"The Air Force" in this case is just us taxpayers. The individuals in any government entity, no matter how negligent, will never suffer any pain if they were truly responsible.
But as already mentioned, the shooter is the one that is really responsible.

I don't follow this area of the law. But since the government has sovereign immunity is this type of claim one in which they have waived it? Otherwise its just a show.

Seems quite similar to the shooter in Ft Lauderdale school a few years back in which case the school board was determined that this psycho asshole kid graduate without a record despite multiple (like 50 ?) visits to his home by the cops and felony assaults he committed on campus.

If he had a record it would not have been so easy for him to buy the AR-15 he used...

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Agree the AF screwed up. But to make the leap that the only way to obtain a gun was by an FFL background check is senseless.

it shows that the BGC system is flawed, and those flaws are Gov't related,

the gov't wanted the NICS system, and got it, now they need to be held accountable to keep it accurate,


IIRC the Ft Hood shooter had a similar issue, if his background issues had been reported, he would not have been eligible to purchase,

quote:

IIRC the Ft Hood shooter had a similar issue, if his background issues had been reported, he would not have been eligible to purchase,

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not to mention practicing as a miltary psychiatrist.

That’s a deep pocket.

Air Force ordered to pay more than $230M in Texas church shooting

More than two dozen people were killed in the 2017 attack in Sutherland Springs when the gunman opened fire during a Sunday service.

Author: Associated Press

Published: 4:59 PM CST February 7, 2022

Updated: 5:39 PM CST February 7, 2022

SAN ANTONIO — Editor's note: The attached video is from Nov. 2021.

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.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez had ruled in July that the Air Force was “60% liable” for the attack because it failed to submit Kelley’s assault conviction during his time in the Air Force to a national database.

Lawyers for survivors and relatives of those killed had asked for $418 million, while the Justice Department proposed $31.8 million.

The approximately 80 claimants include relatives of those killed and 21 survivors and their families. Authorities put the official death toll at 26 because one of the 25 people killed was pregnant. 

The church massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in the state's history.

A year after the shooting, Church leaders announced their multi-million dollar intentions to rebuild the worship site with the ultimate inclusion of a memorial tower dedicated to the victims of the 2017 shooting. 

"This is going to be a gathering place...[for] the broken and those who are healing," Pastor Frank Pomeroy said at the time. 

Holy Smokes that's going to get some attention.

Now they'll be entering everyone into that database...

I'm waiting for the VA to start screwing over veterans citing this court order now.

All those with PTSD may be vulnerable with this admin.

quote:

Originally posted by Poacher:
All those with PTSD may be vulnerable with this admin.

I've warned a lot of veterans against accepting this determination from a doctor. Even if true, it's seldom worth it.