Authorities have identified the Lakewood Church shooter as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonnee Moreno.
Moreno, who according to investigators has used both male and female names in the past, entered Joel Osteen’s 16,800-seat megachurch building with an AR-style long rifle and opened fire in a hallway of the church around 2 p.m. as Lakewood Church was beginning its Spanish-language services.
While investigators have not yet established a motive for the shooting, they have concluded that Moreno identified as a female.
In addition to carrying the assault weapon, Moreno was wearing a trench coat and a backpack.
RELATED:Woman Opens Fire at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, Shot Dead by Church Security
After Moreno opened fire, two off-duty officers who were working security at Lakewood Church fatally shot Moreno before she killed anyone. Two others were injured during the shooting. One was a 57-year-old man, who was shot in the hip, and the other was Moreno’s 7-year-old old son, who was shot in the head.
Moreno’s son remains in critical condition at a local children’s hospital. The man who was shot in the hip was treated and released. It is unknown whether the two injuries were a result of the officers’ gunfire or Moreno’s.
Before the shooter died, she told the off-duty officers that she had a bomb. However, upon further investigation, her threat was found to be untrue.
According to the authorities, investigators found that Moreno had a history of mental illness. In 2016, she was placed under an emergency detention order by police.
Investigators are currently looking into whether a dispute involving Moreno and her ex-husband’s family was the cause of the shooting. Investigators reported that Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law said that she reached out to pastoral staff at Lakewood Church in 2022 during Moreno’s divorce and custody battle.
Investigators have not called the shooting a hate crime but did discover antisemitic writings by Moreno and reported that Moreno had a “Palestine” sticker on the buttstock of her weapon.
