Police continue Lakewood Church shooting investigation
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Photo: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Police are still investigating the events that led a Conroe mother to open fire with an AR-15 rifle in Houston's Lakewood Church on Sunday.
- Two people, including the woman's 7-year-old son, were wounded before the woman was killed.
Houston police chief Troy Finner said investigators who raided a Conroe home early Monday found antisemitic writings by the shooter.
- Police said she had a history of mental illness and used several aliases, both male and female, but they identified her as Genesse Moreno, 36.
- Commander Christopher Hassig did not divulge the contents of the writings but noted some members of her ex-husband's family are Jewish.
Questions remain about whether it was the shooter or police who wounded her 7-year-old son in the head during a minutes-long gun battle in the church.
What happened: Moreno parked at the west side of the church along Timmons Lane at 1:53pm, according to Hassig, who oversees the Houston Police Department's homicide division.
- She pulled her son out of her vehicle while carrying an AR-15 under a trenchcoat and approached a door where she threatened an unarmed security guard and entered the building, Hassig said.
- She started shooting minutes later, he said.
Two off-duty officers working security at the church — one with the HPD and the other with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — saw the woman and began to shoot.
- That encounter lasted minutes before police fatally shot Moreno, Hassig said.
- The woman's son was struck in the head by a bullet, police said. He remains in critical condition as of Monday.
- A 57-year-old man was shot in the leg but has since been released from the hospital.
Details: Moreno purchased the AR-15 legally in December, Hassig said.
- Officers also found a sticker that said "Palestine" on the buttstock of the gun.
- Finner said detectives recovered multiple rounds of ammunition and another rifle in her bag.
Asked if he was dealing with a hate crime, Finner said: "I just want us to simply wait on the facts. You've got mental illness here. You've got a lot of things going on."
Of note: It is up to HPD's Criminal Intelligence Division to determine if it will be classified as a hate crime.
What we're watching: Finner said more information, including any bodycam footage, will be released as the investigation unfolds.