New details have emerged within the shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church on Sunday afternoon.
Police have named the suspect as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, who was shot dead on the scene by two off-duty officers.
She was clad in a trench coat when she walked into the Houston-based megachurch shortly before a Spanish-language service and opened fire, injuring two, including a baby who stays in critical condition.
Law enforcement said that “antisemitic writings” were uncovered during a recent search and Houston Police’s homicide chief Christopher Hassig told reporters that two weapons were recovered from the scene, including an assault rifle with a “Palestine” sticker.
“There was a sticker on the buttstock of the rifle that stated ‘Palestine.’ A sticker simply stated ‘Palestine’ on the buttstock,” he said.
While police are still working to determine a motive, he added that Moreno had a history of mental health issues and a dispute involving her ex-husband’s family, a few of whom are Jewish, could also be an element.
“We do have some facts that she was put under an emergency detention order by Houston cops, we consider in 2016. We do consider that she does have a mental health history that’s documented through us and thru interviews with relations,” Hassig said.
“And we do need to say that through our investigation, I discussed antisemitic writing. We do consider that there was a familial dispute that has taken place between her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s family. And a few of those individuals are Jewish, so we consider that that may possibly be where all of this stems from.”
