Another incredibly disturbing report about church shooter Devin Kelley has emerged in the wake of Sunday’s massacre at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Kelley reportedly attended First Baptist’s annual Harvest Festival at the house of worship with his kids — an Oct. 31 event that was held just five days before he killed 26 parishioners and injured scores of others, The Houston Chronicle reported.
Kelley, who is said to have had issues with his mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, who attends the church, apparently brought his kids to the event — an unexpected occurrence that left some people in the congregation feeling optimistic that he could be making much-needed positive changes amid ongoing family problems.
“They thought, ‘Oh, this is good. This is progress,'” Sutherland Springs resident Tambria Read said.
The church’s positive reaction speaks volumes about the kinds of people who were in the congregation — people Read said were “very loving” and “nonjudgmental.” The parishioners saw a chance to help Kelley.
“They would have helped him deal with his issues and helped him try to get focused,” she said of the gunman.
Read told The Houston Chronicle that Shields told her she was excited to see Kelley bring her grandkids to the church for the event. But just days later, authorities said he was sending Shields threatening texts before going on a rampage at First Baptist; Shields wasn’t present at the church on the day of the shooting.
Before the attack, the church uploaded 41 photos from the Harvest Festival festivities, showing congregants enjoying fun and food just days before many of them would be slaughtered by Kelley.
Among the pictures is an image of Crystal Holcombe and her children:
As Faithwire previously reported, Holcombe was killed along with four of her children, including the unborn child she was carrying. Overall, the Holcombe family lost nine of its family members in the attack.
See more of the tragic photos here.