The FBI has the Texas church shooter's phone but can't get in

pulse

November 7, 2017 10:36 PM

FBI investigators are hoping the phone will provide clues about the gunman's motive.

The FBI has the Texas church gunman's phone, but it can't unlock it.
The development recalls the FBI's dispute with Apple after the 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, California.
Investigators are hoping the phone will contain clues about the gunman's motive.

FBI agents have gotten hold of the cellphone belonging to the gunman who killed 26 people in a Texas church on Sunday. But there's one problem — they can't get in.

"They're in the process of looking at the phone," Christopher Combs, the special agent leading the investigation into the shooting, told reporters on Tuesday. "Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to get into that phone."

Investigators are hoping the phone contains clues about Devin Kelley's motive for entering First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, with an assault rifle and opening fire on parishioners.

After Kelley left the church, an armed resident exchanged fire with Kelley and pursued him when he drove away. Kelley was found dead in his vehicle in what officials have said was most likely a suicide.

The FBI's inability to gain access to Kelley's phone recalls the agency's dispute with Apple in the aftermath of the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead. In that case, Apple repeatedly denied the FBI's request to unlock the iPhone of one of the two shooters. The FBI eventually unlocked the phone with the help of a third party.

"With the advance of the technology and the phones and the encryptions, law enforcement ... is increasingly not able to get into these phones," Combs said on Tuesday.

Combs declined to specify what type of phone Kelley had.

"I don't want to tell every bad guy out there what phone to buy, to harass our efforts on trying to find justice here," Combs said. "I can assure you that we're working very hard to get into the phone, and that will continue until we find an answer."

Kelley's motive is still unclear, though officials have ruled out racial or religious animus. Officials have instead pointed to a possible "domestic situation" with his mother-in-law, who had previously attended the First Baptist Church but was not present on Sunday during the attack.