New information about the shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church is coming to light.
Several hours after the 36-year-old woman opened fire at the church, it was confirmed that two people, including the shooter’s 7-year-old son, were injured in the shooting. The shooter, identified Genesse Ivonne Moreno was killed by responding police officers.
@abcnews Pastor Joel Osteen addressed the media after a shooting Sunday at Lakewood Church in Houston: "We don't understand why these things happen, but we know God's in control." Authorities say a woman armed with a long rifle entered the church — accompanied by a small child — and opened fire. She was killed by officers on the scene. The child was hospitalized in critical condition. At least one person, an apparent bystander, was transported to a local hospital with injuries. #news #breakingnews #lakewoodchurch #houston #abcnews ♬ original sound – ABC News
As CNN reports, the shooter’s mother-in-law took to Facebook, revealing the shooter was on medication for schizophrenia. “My daughter-in-law when she was taking medication for schizophrenia was a very sweet and loving woman,” Walli Carranza revealed in her Facebook post. “But mental illness is real illness and when family members seek emergency protections they’re not doing so for their own sake but for the sake of the person who is ill.”
According to Christopher Hassig, commander of the Houston Police Department’s homicide division, Moreno “had a mental health history documented by Houston police,” CNN reports. As result, Carranza said her daughter-in-law should have never been allowed to own the semi-automatic rifle she was in possession of.
“The fault lies in a child protective services of Montgomery County and Harris County that refused to remove custody from a woman with known mental illness that was not being treated and with the state of Texas for not having strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from owning or possessing a gun,” Carranza continued, CNN reports.
In an interview with KHOU, Carranza said, “She had a particular kind of schizophrenia that caused her to become violent. She threatened her husband, my own son, and we still couldn’t get intervention.”
On February 11, police responded to reports of a shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood church in Houston, Texas.
HPD is responding to reports of a shooting at 3700 Southwest Freeway. This is an on-going, active scene. Please avoid the area. Additional information will be provided as it is available. #HouNews
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) February 11, 2024
Just a little over a half hour ago, Houston police reported on X that their officers were “responding to reports of a shooting at 3700 Southwest Freeway. This is an on-going, active scene. Please avoid the area. Additional information will be provided as it is available.”
Shortly before that, Lakewood Church also shared reports of an active shooter on X as well.
“There is an active situation involving shots fired at Lakewood. Law enforcement is on the scene,” Lakewood Church posted on X. “That is all the information we have at this time. Please pray for Lakewood and our community.”
According to NBC News, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has since reported that “the shooter is down.” According to Sheriff Gonzales, the shooter was shot by someone from a different agency, not a deputy from the Houston Police Department.
It’s unclear if anyone else was injured.
A mother attending a service at the church with her kids told NBC News that “she heard the first shot fired about eight minutes before a church service started.” She continued, saying, “After the second shot, everybody started running. I ran with my kids … my family.”
The mother added that she believes she heard at least eight more shots before laying down on the floor.
This is a developing report.