The man who allegedly killed 26 people and injured at least 20 others in a rural Texas church this weekend was fired from a brief stint as a water park security guard this summer, his former employer said today.
Devin Kelley, 26, was named by law enforcement as the suspected shooter. He was found dead in his car after fleeing the scene of the shooting in Sutherland Springs on Sunday morning.
The company that owns Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas, a water park and resort about 35 miles north of the church, released a statement today confirming that Kelley worked there this summer.
“Devin Patrick Kelley worked briefly — 5 1/2 weeks — this summer at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels as a seasonal unarmed night security guard. His employment was terminated,” Winter Prosapio, the corporate director of communications at Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort, wrote in a statement posted to the resort’s website.
“All our security guards must pass a criminal background check through the Texas Department of Public Safety,” she continued.
Prosapio declined to provide specifics about his firing. “He was not a good fit,” she told ABC News.
Kelly left the Air Force in 2014 after receiving a bad conduct discharge, which is the second-lowest level of dismissal in the armed services.
He was court-martialed in 2012 on charges of assault on his spouse and their child, according to the Air Force, and he was sentenced to confinement for 12 months and received a reduction of his military status.
ABC News’ Crystal Muguerza contributed to this report.
