Video appears to capture deadly shooting at Joel Osteen’s mega-church before female suspect killed by cops
A chilling video appears to capture the moment police said a female shooter with a child in tow opened fire at Joel Osteen’s Houston-area mega-church — before she was killed by off-duty cops.
In the clip shared on X, a bearded man in glasses is seen speaking at the start of a Spanish-language service at Osteen’s Lakewood Church Sunday afternoon, when suddenly he is interrupted by a barrage of gunfire.
The speaker briefly tries to continue, but then another shot echoes through the church, prompting him to turn around and see a crowd of panicked people fleeing down an escalator behind him.
The broadcast of the sermon then cuts to a blue screen displaying the Lakewood Church logo.
Police said a woman in her 30s, dressed in a trench coat and carrying a backpack and a long rifle, entered the massive church just before 2 p.m. with a 5-year-old boy and opened fire.
Two off-duty officers working security at the church — a Houston cop and an agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — returned fire and fatally shot the woman, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news briefing Sunday.
What we know about the shooting at Joel Osteen's Houston church
Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, has been identified as the suspect who opened fire at Joel Osteen’s church in Houston, Texas on Feb. 11, 2023, before she was fatally shot by police officers.
Moreno walked into Lakewood Church, with a 7-year-old boy, before a Spanish-language service started at 2 p.m. She then started shooting as hundreds of people were taking their seats.
A 57-year-old man, described as a bystander, was shot in the leg and transported to a local hospital. The 7-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head and is currently in critical condition.
A witness told ABC 13 that she heard gunshots from the choir room, which sent churchgoers into a panic.
“The whole church started praying and declaring Jesus’ name,” she said. “I was like, ‘This might be the last time I get to pray, that I get to glorify the name of Jesus, so I’m going to do this.’”
Osteen, 60, said during a press conference Sunday that the tragedy could have been much worse had it happened during the earlier or later Sunday services, which draw larger crowds.
Police say Moreno claimed to have a bomb and sprayed an unknown substance on the ground before she was shot dead. The 36-year-old has a record of mental health issues and reportedly used a weapon with a “Palestine” sticker during the shooting.
Detectives said Moreno may have fired as many as 12 shots into the church before she was taken down.
The boy who was with the woman was critically wounded in the shootout, but it was not clear how he was struck by gunfire.
Asked whether the child was shot by one of the officers, Finner declined to speculate but said, “That female, that suspect, put that baby in danger. I’m going to put that blame on her.”
The youngster was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital. His relationship to the woman was not immediately known.
A man in his 50s, described as a bystander, was shot in the hip and hospitalized in stable condition, Finner said.
Before the gun-toting woman died from her injuries, she poured an unknown substance on the floor and told officers that there was a bomb, but a search of the area turned up no explosives.
As of Monday morning, there was still no word on a possible motive behind the violence.
The harrowing ordeal occurred between the English and Spanish-language services at the mega-church.
Pastor Joel Osteen, 60, said during a press briefing Sunday that that tragedy could have been worse if the shooting had happened during the earlier and larger late Sunday morning service.
“I could only imagine … if it would have happened during the 11 o’clock service,” he said at the scene.
The church, founded by Osteen’s late father, is regularly attended by 45,000 people weekly, making it the third-largest mega-church in the US, according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
With Post wires
