Genesse Ivonne Moreno was named by police as the active shooter who opened fire on February 11 inside Joel Osteen’s Houston, Texas, church with a long gun bearing a “Palestine” sticker.
Christopher Hassig, the commander of the Houston Police Department’s homicide division, identified the suspect in a news conference as Genesse Moreno, 36, a “Hispanic female.” According to Hassig, Moreno used “multiple aliases, including Jeffrey Escalante.”
“She has utilized both female and male names,” Hassig said. However, interviews and documents, including the suspect’s driver’s license, showed that “she has been identified this entire time as female, she, her, and so we are identifying her as Genesse Moreno, Hispanic female,” Hassig said.
Fox 10 Phoenix reported that Moreno has “identified as a female but has a criminal history in the name of Jeffrey Escalante.” A criminal history obtained by that station shows the names Jeffrey Genesse Escalante and Jeffrey Escalante Moreno as aliases for the suspect.
Moreno also used the name Jeffrey Moreno Carranza in a divorce case, CNN reported.
John Whitmire, mayor of Houston, said in a news conference that a tragedy “occurred just before 2 p.m. at Lakewood church as they were in between services.” Two people were injured – a 7 year-old child and a 57-year-old man – police said in a previous news conference. Moreno was the child’s “biological mother,” police said.
The shooter was killed at the scene by two law enforcement officers who were working extra hours at the church, averting further casualties, police said.
“We’re devastated. I mean, we’ve been here 65 years and to have someone shooting in your church,” Osteen said in the news conference. “We don’t know why these things happen, but we know God’s in control.” He said the church community would pray for the victims and the suspect. “Kind of in a fog but . . . we’re going to stay strong.” He said there are “forces of evil but the forces of God are stronger than that.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Genesse Ivonne Moreno Had a Sticker With the Word ‘Palestine’ on the Rifle & Anti-Semitic Writings Were Found, Reports Say
MugshotGenesse Moreno
An AR-15-style rifle was recovered at the scene, Hassig said in the news conference. “There was a sticker on the butt stock of the rifle that stated Palestine,” he said. According to Hassig, Moreno also had a .22-caliber rifle in a bag but did not fire it.
Fox News initially reported that the phrase was “Free Palestine.” However, in the news conference, Hassig reiterated, “A sticker simply stated Palestine on the butt stock.” Fox News later updated its story to acknowledge, “The preliminary reporting also indicated that the message ‘Free Palestine’ was written on the rifle; investigators said later it was just ‘Palestine.'”
Police confirmed that they recovered antisemitic writings.
“We do have some antisemitic writings that we have uncovered,” Hassig said. “We do believe that there was a familial dispute that has taken place between her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s family, and some of those individuals are Jewish. So we believe that might possibly be where all of this stems from.”
CNN reported that there was a “bitter custody battle between Moreno and representatives for her ex-spouse’s family” that “played out on her social media accounts.” According to CNN, Moreno acted as her own attorney at one point in the divorce case.
Doug Williams, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston field office, said in the press conference that the active shooting broke out just before a service at what he described as one of the largest congregations in the United States. He said it was “way too early to determine a motive for the shooter’s actions, and we are not in the business of speculating.” According to Williams, the FBI is still collecting facts.
“As soon as we married, my wife became abusive,” Moreno’s ex-husband Enrique Carranza said an affidavit obtained by ABC News, adding she was “a diagnosed schizophrenic, so daily it was a new battle or fight in her realm” adding that she put him “through hell to appease her delusional thought pattern.”
“She is a diagnosed schizophrenic and [Child Protective Services] has told her that she cannot have a gun,” he said, according to ABC. “I am afraid of her having my address. She has guns and she brags about it while having my son in the car.”
According to ABC, Moreno’s former mother-in-law, a rabbi, also filed an affidavit that read that Carranza “has been reticent to file the criminal charges against his wife; now his former wife because, as she is not a US citizen. As she already has had criminal convictions, she would likely be deported if convicted of the 3rd degree felony that stems from filing a fraudulent birth certificate.”
Rabbi Carranza wrote a lengthy statement on Facebook:
My son-Quito and I and the entire Carranza family ask for your prayers for my grandson Samuel Moreno-Carramza who has suffered a gun shot wound to the brain. Sam is seven years old and is clinging to life today at Texas Children’s Hospital as I fly there from Mexico and his father from Florida.
The outpouring of love and support we have received today is overwhelming and as we try to make sense of this completely preventable horror, we want to make three things absolutely clear.
First, although my former daughter-in-law raged against Israel and Jews in a pro Palestinian rant yesterday this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam. Nothing! But this is what happens when reckless and irresponsible reporting let’s people with severe mental illness have an excuse for violence.
Second, no one may ever blame a police officer who carries out his or her rightful duty to save lives even if they are found responsible for shooting my grandson. The fault lies in a child protective services of Montgomery County and Harris County that refused to remove custody from a woman with known mental illness that was not being treated and with the state of Texas for not having strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from owning or possessing a gun. Let it be clear that the second amendment stops where the first amendment right to life begins and it’s time to remove from the US Constitution any protection for gun ownership.
Third, my family asks for privacy and at the same time we ask that this be a wake-up call.. my daughter-in-law when she was taking medication for schizophrenia was a very sweet and loving woman. But mental illness is real illness and when family members seek emergency protections they’re not doing so for their own sake but for the sake of the person who is ill….. And to protect her child and society.
If today you suspect that someone needs mental health care never cease your efforts to secure their safety and that of others.
May HaShem bless the hands of those who hold our child and bring him healing just as G.d did when he was born ar just 23 weeks.
And may the memory of Genèse Moeeno-Carranza be for a blessing…..in her death may we find a way to keep others from dying.
2. Genesse Ivonne Moreno, Who Was Wearing a Trenchcoat & Had a Criminal History as Jeffrey Escalante, Entered the Church With a Small Child, Police Said
In a press conference, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner revealed that the suspect was accompanied by a child when entering Lakewood Church on Sunday, February 11. The gunfire was captured on a live Spanish-language broadcast in the video above.
Hassig said in Monday’s news conference that, at 1:53 p.m., the suspect pulled up in a white vehicle, opened the door, pulled the 7-year-old child and a bag out of the back seat, and confronted a security guard. The guard let the suspect in, and Moreno immediately started firing multiple rounds in the hall, Hassig said.
Finner said the suspect entered the property on the west side near the parking lot of Lakewood Church. “She was armed with a long rifle and a trench coat with a backpack.”
Authorities said the child, who is Moreno’s son, is 7 years of age and is in critical condition. They originally said the boy was 5 or 6.
NBC News reported that the suspect had “at least six prior arrests since 2005, including unlawful carrying of a weapon, which she pleaded guilty to; evading arrest; and assault on a public official, which was pleaded to a lesser charge.”
In 2022, Moreno was “arrested on a weapons charge, a misdemeanor, which was cleared with two days’ time served in the Fort Bend County Jail,” CNN reported.
Fox10 published the full criminal history, which shows aliases as Jeffrey Escalante.
According to Fox News, Moreno “was born as a man – Jeffrey Escalante – from El Salvador” but “identified as” a “transgender woman.” Fox later updated its story to read, “Preliminary reporting indicated the shooter was transgender, but in a Monday news conference, investigators identified her as a woman and the biological mother of the 7-year-old child.”
3. Genesse Moreno Posted on Instagram About Founding a Real-Estate & Financial Services Firm
On Facebook and Instagram – both accounts now deleted – Moreno “described herself on social media as the founder of a real estate and financial services firm” and wrote about being “involved in sales of everything from new condos to shopping malls,” CNN reported.
One now-deleted Instagram page called Building Wealth Inc. is tied to the shooter’s name. “My new group is for buyers, buyer’s rep, sellers, seller’s reps, bird dogs, wholesalers, investors, and students. We focus on commercial deals with off-market commercial, hospitality, and multifamily properties,” Connected Investors quoted Moreno, of that page.
A screenshot from the Building Wealth Inc. Instagram page shows the suspect donating to Lakewood Church in March 2020 and writing, “One may say my church is this and its that, I sit back and . . .” At that point the post included a frustrated emoji.
“For they like to clown on the people of God do they know what they are doing??? Persecute, I say indeed and proceed. Your reward is waiting, as for me and my household… I will honor and bless my church,” the post said. The hashtags with the post were in the names of Joel Osteen, Lakewood Ministries, Lakewood Church, and Gold Bless America.
“A social media post in March 2020 shows a screenshot of a form letter from Lakewood Church thanking Moreno for her donation,” CNN confirmed.
4. Genesse Ivonne Moreno, Who Was Shot & Killed by Off-Duty Law Enforcement Officers at the Scene, Claimed to Have a Bomb, the Police Chief Says
The shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church today…. A good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy today. Praying for the families involved.
According to Finner, Moreno claimed to have a bomb but none was found in the suspect’s car or backpack.
Moreno also sprayed a substance during the incident, Finner said, although he did not identify it or use the suspect’s name.
A search warrant was executed on February 12 at a home associated with Moreno in Conroe, Texas, according to Fox10.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said in Monday’s news conference that the scene was tested, and there is “no risk” from exposure to any chemicals at the scene. He said the products were “benign” and were “common products,” but did not describe them further.
According to CNN, a search warrant revealed Moreno had a “yellow rope similar to a detonation cord and ‘substances consistent with the manufacture of explosive devices.'”
Police previously revealed that Moreno was shot and killed at the scene by two officers working “extra employment” at the church. Finner said he believed they averted greater damage. “She had a long gun, and it could have been a lot worse,” he said.
One of those officers was identified as Adrian Herrera.
“An off-duty agent of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission was among multiple commissioned peace officers who responded to a shooting at Houston’s Lakewood Church around 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11,” the agency wrote in a press release.
“TABC Agent Adrian Herrera was working off duty as a security officer at the church when a person opened fire with a long rifle in the lobby of the building. Herrera and another officer responded by engaging the shooter and neutralizing the threat,” it says.
Williams, of the FBI, said the two officers saved lives. “Multiple shots were exchanged by all three,” Hassig said.
Hassig said the child was shot in the head. The suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene by 2:07 p.m., Hassig said.
The victims’ names have not yet been released. Finner said it’s not clear whether Moreno or of the officers shot the child but added that he believes the suspect “put that baby in danger. I am going to put that blame on her.”
According to Fox News, the search warrant says Moreno “pointed an AR-15 at the officers who then fired upon her and killed her in self-defense.”
5. Genesse Ivonne Moreno Was Described as a ‘Lone Actor’ With a Previous Emergency Detention Order
Video from inside Lakewood Church as a female shooter opened fire with an AR-15. HPD says 36-year-old Genesse Moreno legally purchased the firearm in December despite her history of mental health issues. We’ll have the latest tonight at 5 and 6.
📸: @yesidcristo10
@25NewsKXXV
Finner said that authorities believe the shooting was an isolated incident, but they are still investigating to make sure.
Police said they believe that Moreno acted alone, describing the suspect as a “lone wolf” and a “lone suspect.”
Moreno was put under an emergency detention order by Houston police in 2016, Hassig said, adding that Moreno had documented mental health issues.
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