For Houston megachurch shooter, obtaining guns wasn't an issue
Genesse Moreno, who opened fire at Osteen's megachurch, had at least four firearms confiscated over the past four years, amid a documented history of criminal activity and mental health struggles.
CONROE, Texas — Amid a documented history of criminal activity and mental health struggles, the woman who opened fire at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch with her son in tow appeared to have no difficulties in one area: buying guns.
In the attack Sunday, Genesse Moreno used an AR-15-style rifle that was purchased legally in December, officials said. She was also armed with a .22-caliber rifle. But court records suggest Moreno, 36, had owned at least four other firearms that had been confiscated over the past four years.
Two weapons were taken in separate incidents in Colorado and Texas, according to Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law, and two more were seized and destroyed after an arrest in 2022 outside Houston, prosecutors said. Her gun ownership was also detailed by her neighbors in the Houston suburb of Conroe, who claimed she harassed and threatened them over the years.
How exactly Moreno, 36, obtained the rifles she had Sunday and why she targeted the celebrity pastor’s Lakewood Church remain under investigation. She was killed in an exchange of gunfire with two off-duty law enforcement officers, while her 7-year-old son and a man were injured, Houston police said.
Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen at a news conference at Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday.Kirk Sides / Houston Chronicle via Getty ImagesThe man was released from the hospital with a leg injury, investigators said.
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