President Trump called the recent Sutherland Springs, Texas church shooting a “mental health” issue rather than a gun problem during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan on Monday.
The President stated:
I think mental health is your problem here. This was a very — based on preliminary reports — a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of time.
Shooter Devin Kelley had previously been discharged from the Air Force in 2014 on allegations of domestic violence against his wife and child, as reported by The Hill.
He shot and killed 26 people and injured 20 Sunday morning.
The President also took time to recognize the citizen who took up arms against the shooter. He stated:
Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise… it would have been much worse.