Texas Mass Shooter Reportedly Used Dogs For Target Practice

AUSTIN, TX — The mass shooter who killed 26 people in Texas last Sunday in the worst mass shooting in Texas history bought dogs from Craigslist for use in target practice, according to a report.

Devin Kelley, 26, reportedly purchased the animals via Craigslist with the sole intention of killing them, a former U.S. Air Force colleague told CNN. Jessika Edwards, who served at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010-12 with Kelley, told the news station the mass shooter was "...using the dogs as target practice."

The former colleague acknowledged she never vetted the veracity of Kelley's claims, but said he told her of his actions via Facebook messages three years ago after reconnecting in civilian life. She told CNN the admission prompted her to end the friendship.

The former friend also said Kelley consistently conveyed a fascination with mass murderers while enlisted in the Air Force. The new revelation adds to a dark personal inventory of violent behavior as the dots retrospectively continue to be connected to paint a picture of a deeply disturbed individual — an appraisal of a person that includes spousal and child abuse and threats against superiors.

"He would make jokes about wanting to kill somebody," Edwards told CNN. "And we would say, 'wait, that's not funny.' "

Edwards said she tried to warn superiors of his dark worldview. When Kelly was disciplined for poor performance, she warned her bosses to "...back off, or he would shoot the place up," she told the news station. Edwards has since been interviewed by the FBI investigating his crimes.

"He was always getting into trouble," Edwards said. "It was problem after problem."

Animal rights advocates at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sent Patch a statement upon the revelation of animal abuse by Kelley. Officials there noted previous reports of the shooter's animal abuse toward another dog, suggesting such acts should have alerted to his potential to kill humans given a known link tying the two predispositions.

"It is no surprise to PETA that three years before he massacred 26 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Devin Patrick Kelley was charged with cruelty to animals for punching, throwing, and dragging a dog as the animal cried and struggled, and that he reportedly bought dogs from Craigslist to use as living targets," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a prepared statement. "The FBI has identified cruelty to animals as a sign of psychopathy and a red flag indicating future escalating violence. Every school shooter and serial killer has a history of abusing animals, yet Kelley was given only a slap on the wrist for his cruelty to the dog he harmed, and his additional alleged "training crimes" on animals seem to have gone unreported."

Newkirk said those abusing animals should be punished to the fullest extent as a deterrent against escalated behavior: "While debates about gun control and mental health rage on, one simple way in which to prevent future violence is for local law-enforcement officials to pursue the strongest penalties possible in cruelty cases—for everyone's sake."

Kelley killed 26 parishioners at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a city located outside of San Antonio, on Sunday.

>>> Read the full story at CNN

Watch: Texas Church Shooter Had A Violent Past

Undated drivers license photo of Devin Kelley via Texas Department of Public Safety