Houston police have released body-worn camera (BWC) and security footage of the Lakewood Church shooting on February 11 when a pro-Palestine, Hispanic woman attempted a mass murder at televangelist Joel Osteen's famous Texas megachurch.
A surveillance camera positioned in the parish's parking lot captured the moment 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno drove a white SUV to the west entrance of Lakewood Church and dragged her seven-year-old son out of the back seat to haul him to the scene of the shooting. Moreno entered the church lobby, wearing a backpack and a beige trenchcoat she used to conceal a rifle.
The AR's buttstock bore a "Palestine" sticker, Commander Christopher Hassig of HPD's homicide division stated at the February 12 press conference. Similarly, a law enforcement source told CNN that "Free Palestine" was written on the AR-15 Moreno used to shoot up the Christian church. She also carried a bag containing a second gun, presumably the .22 caliber rifle, which was not fired.
Between Sunday services, Moreno tried to enter the sanctuary, but the entrance doors were locked, Houston Police Department (HPD) assistant chief Keith Seafous says in a 26-minute video compiling all available BWCs and the church's surveillance footage of Moreno's rampage. (WARNING: The video's contents are graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.)
HPD Chief @TroyFinner statement on release of body worn camera video from Lakewood Church (3700 Southwest Freeway). pic.twitter.com/YlsVklwtXA
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) February 26, 2024
Moreno can be seen in one of the security cameras placing the backpack on the ground, unzipping it, and pulling something out. According to authorities, she sprayed "some type of substance" on the ground, but investigators weren't sure what it was.
"I will blow up the whole f*cking place!" Moreno can be heard shouting. "You killed my son! Stand down. I have a bomb! I have a f*cking bomb. Stay calm. All I need is help. I need help. That's all. I just need help. There's a bomb in this bag. Stop shooting."
Ordered to drop her weapon, Moreno responds: "No, there's a bomb. I won't. The bomb is gonna go off."
"Looks like she has something strapped on her chest," a Harris County sheriff's deputy says over the radio.
(A bomb squad searched the premises and found no evidence of explosives.)
Another camera angle of the active-shooting situation shows the boy in a recessed doorway, pressed against a wall, and covering his ears as Moreno walks off-screen. When she nears him, he reaches his arms out to her, but she walks away again.
Moreno was ultimately taken down by a pair of off-duty officers who were working an extra gig as the church's security guards: HPD's recently sworn in Officer C. Moreno and Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission (TABC) Agent Adrian Herrera.
Officer Moreno was notified by a Lakewood Church volunteer that Moreno was armed, per police. Then, the two exchanged gunfire. Herrera heard the sound of gunshots and returned fire, fatally striking Moreno after she refused to drop her rifle.
"Active shooter. She's down," Officer Moreno tells dispatchers. "I need a medic. I have one young male, conscious and breathing. He got shot in the head. I need medics [...] I need EMS ASAP." Herrera tells Officer Moreno, "You have a kid. Tell them that."
A female officer prays over the critically injured child, who's breathing heavily. "Father God, please bring him close to you," she says. Later on, another individual drags him by the feet into an alcove. "You're good. It's okay," the female cop tells the child.
As the officers approach Moreno, she's seen lying on the ground clutching a yellow-colored rope. A search warrant says she possessed substances "consistent with [...] explosive devices" and a rope that "appeared to be a detonation cord."
Herrera instructs Officer Moreno to put gloves on to retrieve the shooter's weapon. While he is gloving up, another individual in plainclothes arrives on the scene and asks Moreno: "Ma'am, where are you shot at?" Officer Moreno tells the approaching individual: "No! No! No! That's the shooter! That's the shooter! Hold on! Watch out!" Officer Moreno briefly holds him back before the other individual advances again to grab the gun with his bare hands. Officer Moreno scolds him and confiscates the weapon.
The shooter was struck multiple times, and Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced Moreno dead at the scene.
A 47-year-old parishioner was also shot in the hip. His injuries were treated and he has since been released from the hospital.
Seven-year-old Samuel Carranza-Moreno, the little boy caught in the crossfire, suffered several bullets to the brain. He remains hospitalized in critical condition fighting for his life. "Our hearts are heavy," HPD chief Troy Finner said in a press statement issued Monday afternoon. "No child should ever be placed in that position. He needs our support and prayers."
Police believe some sort of "a familial dispute" transpired between Moreno and her ex-husband's family. "Some of those [relatives] are Jewish. So, we believe that might possibly be where all of this stems from," Hassig, the HPD commander, had told reporters after authorities uncovered "antisemitic writings" in Moreno's possession. Moreno "raged against Israel and Jews in a pro-Palestinian rant" inside Lakewood Church's hallways, a family member on the father's side said on Facebook.
Samuel is Moreno's biological son. On social media, she posted "#momlife" and "#motherandson" content with pictures of Samuel. Moreno was reportedly embroiled in a messy divorce-and-custody battle involving her former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, who claimed Moreno is schizophrenic, has Munchausen syndrome by proxy, had been investigated by CPS many times, and was found to have harmed her child. Moreno also allegedly stored an unlocked handgun in her son's diaper bag.
Carranza, the child's paternal grandmother, is posting updates on Facebook of the boy's condition. Samuel has lost a portion of his frontal lobe, Carranza said, and half of his right skull had to be surgically removed. The child went into cardiac arrest multiple times. "[N]o one can determine whether he has significant brain activity because his scalp tissue is too [fragile] to allow the attachment of EEG wires," Carranza wrote. "Will he be able to have any semblance of a normal life? I have no idea," she added.
On Day 13, doctors removed the breathing tube and he is "breathing well" on his own she stated Saturday. However, he may require another form of neurosurgery "since 2 bullets ripped through his brain and shattered his skull into shards of bone," Carranza wrote. As of Sunday, she said Samuel, who endured six surgeries so far, "looked up and smiled" at her.
A deep dive into Moreno's violent, extensive criminal history shows she's an identity-switching, biological woman who previously used multiple male aliases and assumed an array of male personas, including variations of the alter-ego "Jeffery Escalante."
Previous mugshots show her looking much more feminine. pic.twitter.com/n8vKtpRhGs
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) February 12, 2024
"There are some discrepancies," Hassig said of Moreno's gender identity. "She has utilized both male and female names, but through all of our investigation to this point [...] She has been identified this entire time as female: she/her," Hassig stated.
Moreno's Facebook account—which expressed leftist views—has since been scrubbed. On Instagram, she supported far-left socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 election. "I WANT HIM IN THE OFFICE AS THE US PRESIDENT," Moreno wrote.
Moreno was also an El Salvadoran immigrant, according to arrest records. In 2010, it appears U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer against Moreno, but the federal detention request was "lifted" a month later.
🚨 BREAKING: Lakewood Church shooter was previously detained by ICE in 2010 before the hold was “lifted” shortly thereafter. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/AEyqASllqL
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) February 12, 2024
Police haven't said who shot Samuel, whether it was Moreno or the off-duty officers. They've both been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into the incident, as is agency protocol with officer-involved shootings.
"I don't want to speculate on that, but what I will say this: If it was, unfortunately—and that female, that suspect, put that baby in danger. I'm going to put that blame on her," Finner said at the February 11 news briefing where he hailed the officers as heroes. "I want to commend those officers [...] It could have been a lot worse," the police chief said, thanking them for "stepping up."
As for the footage, the BWC of one officer was activated late while another officer was unable to activate hers, Seafous said.
Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is involved in the shooting investigation.
On the night of the shooting, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AFT)'s Houston division launched a multi-agency raid on her home, believing she stored explosive materials inside the residence because of the bomb threat she made.
Law enforcement requested the FBI to assist with the search warrant's execution. FBI Houston's agent-in-charge Douglas Williams said: "It is way too early to determine a motive for the shooter's actions, and we're not in the business of speculating."
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