One Killed, Two Wounded in Houston Megachurch Shooting

Facts

• A woman opened fire inside celebrity preacher Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston, Texas on Sunday, before being shot and killed by off-duty police officers. Two other people were injured in the shooting including a young boy who is now in critical condition.¹
• The woman, identified as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno, entered the church alongside her seven-year-old son, who was shot in the head and critically injured in the exchange of gunfire between Moreno and authorities. It's not yet known who fired the shot that injured the boy.²
• Authorities say the shooting started at Lakewood Church around 1:53 p.m. on Sunday, just before the church's Spanish language services were set to begin. After being shot by police, Moreno told authorities that she had brought a bomb with her, however, no explosives were found.³
• Moreno reportedly used an AR-15 rifle with 'Palestine' written on it. Authorities also reportedly found anti-semitic writings in her belongings. The motive for the shooting is still under investigation and authorities have not ruled out terrorism or a hate crime.²
• Moreno reportedly had a recorded history of mental health issues. Authorities are investigating how she was able to obtain weapons with her history of mental health problems. The AR-15 used in the shooting was obtained legally in December.⁴
• The two off-duty officers from the Houston Police Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission who engaged the shooter have both been placed on administrative duty. The assignment is per protocol.⁵

Sources: ¹ABC News, ²NBC, ³FOX News, ⁴ABC13 Houston and ⁵Associated Press.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by FOX News. Thanks to the quick action of two off-duty law enforcement officers, the suspect was stopped before she was able to cause more damage. Had the shooting occurred during a busier church service, or had law enforcement not acted so quickly, this shooting could have ended up much worse than it did. Although a child was injured in this incident, the person to blame is the mother, who chose to bring her innocent child with her when she went to perpetrate senseless violence.
• Narrative B, as provided by NBC. Moreno was a disturbed individual with a well-documented history of mental health issues. She should never have been able to legally obtain a firearm, yet she did, and two people were injured as a result. She should have been on local law enforcement's radar since she was placed on an emergency mental health detention in 2016. Lawmakers and police need to work proactively to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous and disturbed individuals so tragedies like this don't happen.

Predictions