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The Air Force says it failed to follow policies for alerting federal law enforcement about Devin P. Kelley鈥檚 violent past, enabling the former service member, who killed at least 26 churchgoers Sunday in Sutherland Springs, Tex., to obtain firearms before the shooting rampage.

Kelley should have been barred from purchasing firearms and body armor because of his domestic violence conviction in 2014 while serving at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Kelley was sentenced to a year in prison and kicked out of the military with a bad conduct discharge following two counts of domestic abuse against his wife and a child, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek.

鈥淚nitial information indicates that Kelley鈥檚 domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database,鈥� Stefanek said in a statement released Monday. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein have directed an investigation of Kelley鈥檚 case and 鈥渞elevant policies and procedures,鈥� she said.

Firearms retailer Academy Sports also confirmed Monday that Kelley purchased two weapons from its stores after passing federal background checks this year and last. It remains unclear whether those were the same weapons used in Sunday鈥檚 massacre, but his ability to purchase guns at all highlights the Air Force鈥檚 failure to follow Pentagon guidelines for ensuring certain violent offenses are reported to the FBI.

While military law does not classify crimes as felonies or misdemeanors, Kelley鈥檚 sentence was a functional felony conviction, said Geoffrey Corn, a former Army lawyer and professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. A separate law prohibits violent offenders from purchasing body armor, which Kelley was seen wearing during the rampage.

Authorities say Kelley, dressed in all black and wearing a tactical vest, entered the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church and opened fire with a Ruger semiautomatic rifle. The AR-556 Kelley used is patterned on the ubiquitous AR-15.

Corn said it appears there is confusion within the Air Force, and other military branches, about only reporting violent crimes that result in dishonorable discharges, which are more severe punishments under military law than the bad conduct discharge Kelley received.

鈥淓ither the Department of Defense is reporting these convictions, or they鈥檙e not,鈥� Corn said. 鈥淗ow is the federal statute going to be effectively implemented if they aren鈥檛 reporting these convictions?鈥�

Texas state officials had said previously that Kelley did not meet the requirements for obtaining a concealed handgun license, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. Kelley also claimed he had no criminal background that would have precluded him from buying firearms, the newspaper reported.

In the initial aftermath of Sunday鈥檚 tragedy, officials were searching for answers about how Kelley obtained his weapons.

鈥淏y all of the facts that we seem to know, he was not supposed to have access to a gun, so how did this happen?鈥� Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in an interview Monday morning on CNN.