TX Megachurch Shooter Was Probed in 2016 For Mental Health Issues

The person who opened fire Sunday in one of the country’s largest megachurches — using an AR-15 adorned with the word “Palestine” — was subject to an emergency detention order in 2016 due to mental health issues and was caught up in a fraught dispute with her ex-husband and his family, officials said Monday.

Genesse Moreno, 36, pulled up outside Lakewood Church about 2 p.m., walked inside with her 7-year-old son just before the start of a Spanish-language service and started shooting. The gunfire set off a panic in the cavernous building, with two off-duty officers confronting Moreno, who was wearing a trench coat, according to police and a search warrant, reports the Washington Post. In the ensuing moments, officials said, the boy was shot in the head and critically injured, and a male church employee was shot in the hip. Moreno was pronounced dead at the scene.

Local and federal law enforcement officials believe Moreno acted alone. They said that a search of her home in suburban Conroe, Tex., about 50 miles north of Houston, had found “some antisemitic writings” that investigators will be “delving into.” “We believe there was a familial dispute that has taken place through her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s family, who are Jewish. That may be where some of this stems from,” said Christopher Hassig, commander of the Houston Police Department’s homicide special investigations unit. Moreno was identified via a driver’s license, said officials, who noted that she had multiple aliases, including “Jeffrey Escalante,” and used male and female pronouns. She had also brought a .22-caliber rifle to the church but did not fire it, officials said. At the time of the shooting, Moreno had a backpack, yellow rope and “substances consistent with the manufacture of explosive devices, which appeared to be a detonation cord,” according to police and the warrant. Investigators searched Moreno’s house for evidence of a bomb hoax, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and/or possession of prohibited weapons, the warrant said.