Houston megachurch shooter had AR-15 and ‘detonation cord’
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In this screen grab taken from video, pastor Joel Osteen speaks to the media after a shooting at Lakewood Church, in Houston, on Sunday.
KIRK SIDES/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Emergency vehicles line the feeder road outside Lakewood Church during a reported active shooter event, Sunday, in Houston.
The person who opened fire at a megachurch in downtown Houston on Sunday was a 36-year-old woman who carried an AR-15 and had a yellow rope that “appeared to be a detonation cord” for a bomb, according to a search warrant for her home in Montgomery County.
The document provided new details of the shooting that rattled Lakewood Church, which is led by televangelist Joel Osteen and is one of the largest congregations in the United States. The shooting ended quickly after the woman was shot and killed by off-duty police officers who had been hired to provide security.
The warrant identified the woman as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, who lived in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston. A boy who authorities have said is 4 or 5 years old and arrived with Moreno was wounded during the shooting. He was in critical condition today. A man in the church was also wounded.
It remained unclear what connection the boy had to Moreno or what connection she had to Lakewood Church, where sermons by Osteen attract huge national audiences online and on television.
A motive for the shooting is also unclear. A reference to “Palestine” was handwritten on the rifle used in the attack, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
Before she was shot and killed by the off-duty officers, the shooter stated that she had a bomb, according to the warrant. The officers said she was carrying a yellow cord that “appeared to be a detonation cord” that was “consistent with the manufacture of explosive devices.” The officers opened fire after she pointed her weapon at them, according to the warrant.
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The police searched the shooter’s one-story home in Conroe on Sunday night, according to a person familiar with the search. They were looking for firearms, computers and cellphones as well as materials used to make explosives or a “hoax bomb,” according to the warrant.
It was not clear from the warrant whether the boy was shot by the woman, or by the off-duty officers as they confronted her.
A representative for the church said he did not believe the shooter was known to members and leadership of the church.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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