Lakewood Church shooting: Spotlight on Texas gun laws after Houston megachurch attack

A motive for the shooting at the Houston megachurch remains unknown

Lakewood church shooter used rifle with ‘Palestine’ sticker, police say

The spotlight is on Texas gun laws after a woman with a history of mental illness and a criminal record was able to legally purchase a gun and walk into Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston.

Genesse Moreno, 36, opened fire at the church sparking a gunfight with two off-duty cops that left her son fighting for his life in hospital. He remains in critical condition.

In the days since, information has emerged about Moreno’s mental health and criminal history – raising questions around whether something could have been done to have prevented the shooting.

Police said she had legally purchased the AR-15 rifle in December 2023 — despite the fact that court records show that in 2022, she was arrested for a weapons misdemeanour charge.

Now all eyes are turning to Texas’ lax gun laws – particularly the state’s absence of red flag laws.

Red flag laws — which allow for police to intervene if someone shows signs that they are a danger to themselves or others. A court can take away their guns or prevent them from buying one.

The issue is, in Texas, there is no red flag law.

Key Points

• Here’s what we know about the megachurch shooting so far
• Woman shot dead by police after opening fire at church
• Who is Lakewood Church shooter Genesse Moreno?
• Who is pastor of Lakewood Church Joel Osteen?

[15 February 2024 21:30 · Andrea Cavallier]

What was the motive?

The motive for the shooting has not yet been determined by police.

Authorities said they had “uncovered antisemitic writings” penned by Genesse Moreno. On top of this, police noted that there appeared to be a “familial dispute” between Moreno and her ex-husband’s family — some of whom are Jewish.

Police also said at Monday’s press conference that a sticker reading “Palestine” was stuck on the weapon used in the shooting.

In addition to a reported mental health history, Genesse Moreno also had a criminal history – dating from 2005 through 2022 – and she used several aliases including both male and female names, police said. However, “all the investigation to this point, she has been identified the entire time as female”, police said.

Genesse Moreno (Supplied)

Interestingly, most of her arrests are listed under the name Jeffery Escalante — with the middle name Genesse.

The 2022 misdemeanour weapons charges, however, listed her as Genesse Moreno. Her driver’s license also used this name, police said.

Other outlets revealed that in March 2020, Moreno posted a screenshot of a letter from the megachurch thanking her for her donation. The Independent has not independently verified the post, as her social media accounts have been taken down, but has contacted the Houston Police Department.

The investigation is still ongoing. Police stressed that Moreno acted as a “lone wolf.”

[15 February 2024 22:30 · Andrea Cavallier]

Chilling footage shows Genesse Moreno just hours before church shooting

CCTV footage shows Genesse Moreno just hours before she walked inside Joel Osteen’s megachurch on Sunday and opened fire.

Despite her long history with mental illness, she had been able to legally purchase the gun.

The footage obtained by ABC13 and taken from a neighbour’s home CCTV camera in Conroe, a northern suburb of Houston, show Moreno loading up her car from inside her garage while using a blue tarp to conceal her work.

At one point, she can be seen walking around her car with a brown trench coat folded over her arm. Moreno reportedly wore a trench coat during the attack.