A lady wearing a long coat and holding a child started shooting in a busy Texas megachurch. Security shot her to stop the attack.
Police identified a woman named Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, as the suspect. She was with her seven-year-old son, who was badly hurt in the shootout in Houston.
Investigators said the person who attacked had the word “Palestine” on their rifle and they also found writings that were against Jewish people.
But they don’t know why it happened.
A 57-year-old man got shot in the hip, but he’s out of the hospital now.
The shooter’s son was shot in the head during the gun fight, and he is now in critical condition. It is not known who shot the boy.
The church was having a live video service when the first shots were heard. Pastor Jorge Basave kept recording and told the Houston Chronicle that he wanted to stay calm.
“He said he was afraid that other people would also become scared because of his fear. ”
The police said the person used a specific type of gun for the attack. She had a small rifle, but she didn’t use it.
At the news conference on Monday, officials said that the person who attacked has had mental health problems in the past and was ordered to get help in 2016.
Official documents show that Moreno has been arrested many times and has been found guilty of hurting people, doing illegal drugs, and having weapons.
She used different names before, like Jeffery Escalante, and in official records, she is sometimes listed as a man and sometimes as a woman. Police said in a news conference that she is a Hispanic woman.
Police think she had an argument with her ex-husband’s family, who are Jewish.
The shooting happened at Lakewood Church, which is a big church led by famous TV preacher Joel Osteen.
Moreno’s relationship with the church is still being looked into, but the local TV station KHOU says her mother went to Lakewood.
The store also mentioned that people who work at the church might have been asked questions during Moreno’s difficult divorce and child custody case, according to records from Montgomery County court.
The police said the person they think did it drove up to the west side of the building in a white car at 1:53 PM and a Spanish-speaking event was about to start.
She showed her weapon to a security guard who was not carrying a weapon. He let her into the church and then she started shooting inside the hallway at 1:55 PM.
A 28-year-old Houston police officer and a 38-year-old agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) were not working and were hired to protect a church, they shot back at someone.
The attacker was shot and killed after firing many rounds in a gun battle, officials said. They were pronounced dead at 2:07 PM.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that Moreno was seen putting some kind of liquid on the ground, but after checking, they found out it wouldn’t harm anyone.
She got shot, and then she told the police there was a bomb. But when the police looked in her bag and car, they didn’t find any bombs.
Kevin Lilly, the head of TABC, named his agency’s officer as Adrian Herrera.
He praised the two people for staying strong when there was shooting. He said, “What they did yesterday showed great bravery and courage. ”
“They were like a barrier between the worshippers and terror. ” The choice between being able to practice your religion and committing murder.