The FBI has been unable to access the phone of the Texas church gunman, officials said Tuesday, voicing their frustration with the tech industry as they try to gather evidence about Devin Kelley's motive for killing 26 churchgoers in a small town outside San Antonio.
"With the advance of the technology and the phones and the encryptions, law enforcement _ whether that's at the state, local or federal level _ is increasingly not able to get into these phones," Christopher Combs, the special agent in charge of the FBI's San Antonio bureau, said in a televised news conference.
Combs declined to say what type of phone Kelley had, "because I don't want to tell every bad guy out there what phone to buy."
The revelation came as investigators continued to scour the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where Kelley fired hundreds of rounds and left behind 15 empty 30-round ammunition magazines after his attack Sunday.
Investigators believe he acted alone and was not motivated by any political or religious agenda, but perhaps by a domestic argument Kelley had with his mother-in-law, who is a member of the church's congregation but who was not in attendance during the attack.
Officials on Tuesday praised the Good Samaritan neighbor, Stephen Willeford, who shot Kelley in the leg and the torso outside the church and pursued him out of town, calling him a "hero."
"How can you not love that guy?" said Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin. "That guy did what he knew needed to be done."
Ten victims remained in critical condition Tuesday.
