Last Sunday’s shooting in Sutherland Springs turned out to be the worst mass shooting in Texas’ history when a crazed gunman took the lives of 26 people including around a dozen children. Police say the victims ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old.
Joe and Claryce Holcombe lost eight members of their extended family in the shooting at The First Baptist Church, including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even an unborn baby.
Joe Holcombe told NBC News that his son, 60-year-old Bryan who was an associate pastor was about to begin the service when the shooting started. Bryan and his wife Karla were killed instantly.
Paul Buford, a fellow pastor of Bryan’s spoke fondly of his friend and his wife. “You couldn’t ask for any sweeter people in the world. I mean, Bryan had a face that would just light up a room and Karla was just as funny and joyous as you could possibly imagine,” Paul told NBC News.
Bryan’s son Danny and his one-year-old daughter were killed in the shooting while another son John Holcombe, not only lost his parents but lost his wife Crystal and their unborn child along with three out of his wife’s five children.
John and Crystal had only recently married. Julius Kepper who lives near the church told the Associated Press of his sadness over Crystal’s death. “She was starting her life all over again. That’s a crying shame,” he says.
According to Crystal’s aunt Michele Hill, John suffered from shrapnel wounds and Crystal’s youngest child was grazed by bullets but thankfully both were discharged from hospital on Monday. Whilst Crystal’s eldest child had decided to stay at home from church on that particular day.
The Holcombe’s made up almost a third of the fatalities in the deadly massacre.
The gunman was identified as Devin Patrick Kelley, who according to police reports escaped from a mental health facility in 2012 during a spell in the Air Force.
At the time, Kelley was described as “a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms onto Holloman Air Force Base,” according to police reports.
Investigators believe that the shooting may have been driven by domestic tensions after finding threatening texts from Kelley to his mother in law who was a member of the church.