Judge: Air Force Largely At Fault For Texas Church Massacre The Air Force did not properly submit Devin Patrick Kelley's criminal history to an FBI database, allowing him to legally purchase firearms used in the 2017 attack. Scott Olson via Getty Images Law enforcement officials are seen at the scene of the 2017 mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in Texas. A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Air Force is largely to blame for a former airman carrying out Texas’ worst modern mass shooting after it failed to enter the gunman’s criminal history into a federal background database, allowing him to legally purchase firearms.