Dramatic footage shows heroic officers thwart massacre at Lakewood Church while one cop prays over a wounded child



A deranged anti-Semite from El Salvador dragged her son into Joel Osteen's Houston-area megachurch on Feb. 11 and began shooting wildly. Genesse Moreno's attempted massacre was swiftly thwarted by a 28-year-old off-duty Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officer.

The Houston Police Department released footage of the incident Monday, showing Genesse Moreno's incursion into Lakewood Church and her confrontation with the heroes therein.

Surveillance footage outside the church shows Genesse Moreno — who sometimes called herself Jeffrey Escalante — pull her 7-year-old son Samuel out of a white SUV, then march over to an entrance just ahead of the church's 2 p.m. Spanish-language service, dressed in a trench coat and carrying a backpack.

Another view shows multiple people peaceably mingling in a hallway on the west side of the church scatter in response to the crackle of gunfire. While churchgoers and others run for cover, HPD Officer Christopher Moreno rushes toward the commotion.

The shooter, who can be seen from another vantage ignoring the pleas and outstretched arms of her son, fires at Officer Moreno, prompting him to respond in kind, then take cover inside a doorway off the hallway. Genesse Moreno continues marching forward with rifle in hand, passing the officer — who has been on the force since January 2023.

According to HPD Assistant Chief Keith Seafous, the shooter attempted to enter the sanctuary, but the entrance doors were fortunately locked.

Footage shows TABC Officer Adrian Herrera, working security for the church at the time, approach the shooter from the rear with his handgun drawn and at least three other individuals in tow.

Genesse Moreno can be observed taking notice of the armed presence behind her and opening fire, nearly striking Herrera.

After Herrera answered back with his duty weapon, Moreno began to rifle through her backpack on the ground. The Houston Chronicle indicated that at the time, she had sprayed substances on the floor, which Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña later determined were not hazardous.

Officer Moreno's bodycam footage captures the shooter announcing, "There's a bomb in this bag. Stop shooting."

Security pleads with the shooter to drop her weapon, but she refuses, yelling, "The bomb is gonna go off."

The shooter reiterates, saying, "I will blow up the whole f***ing place."

— (@)

While Genesse Moreno appeared to be preparing the next phase of her attack, Herrera continued his advance, ultimately dropping the shooter with a decisive shot. After floundering on the ground for a moment near her supposed explosive device, Moreno stiffened.

In the exchange, 7-year-old Samuel was shot in the head.

HPD Officer Garcia, whose body camera captured some of the chaos surrounding the incident, can be seen running up to the wounded child and praying over his body.

"Father God, please bring him close to you," says Garcia. "Please bring him close to you."

On her way over to the gun battle, Garcia had similarly prayed, "Father God, just be with us. Forgive us our sins."

Uncertain whether the shooter had a bomb, the officers dragged the shooter's child to safety, then cautiously approached.

Walli Carranza, the boy's grandmother, indicated over the weekend that Samuel was recently removed from a ventilator and is now breathing on his own but nevertheless remains in critical condition.

Tom George Thomas, the 57-year-old volunteer at the church who caught a bullet to the hip during the incident, was released from a hospital in stable condition the day after the shooting.

Blaze News previously noted that Genesse Moreno had multiple run-ins with the law prior to shooting up Lakewood Church. She was slapped with charges for drug possession, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and forgery.

Houston Homicide Commander Christopher Hassig indicated that the gender-bending shooter was also temporarily detained in 2016 over mental health concerns and had a history of mental illness.

According to Genesse Moreno's former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, the shooter was a schizophrenic who had been diagnosed with Munchausen by proxy. Moreno allegedly harmed her child more than once and had been the subject of multiple child protective services investigations.

Genesse Moreno had also at one time lost custody of her child but apparently regained it in 2022.

Police indicated early in their investigation that they had discovered some of the shooter's "anti-Semitic writings." Her neighbors spoke of repeated threats, Nazi salutes, and in one instance, the shooter painting a swastika on a nearby resident's fence.

Carranza told the New York Times that Genesse Moreno was a practicing Muslim who frequently targeted her Jewish in-laws with "very anti-Semitic" rants that "were very profane and ... horrible."

Police have not yet confirmed a motive for the attack.

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Effort under way to downplay role of religious and political hatred in pro-Palestinian shooter's attempted church massacre



A raving anti-Semite from El Salvador marched into Joel Osteen's Houston-area megachurch on Sunday and opened fire using a gun with a brand-new "Palestine" sticker on its stock. Two off-duty officers quickly returned fire and made quick and definitive work of the attacker.

While it is not yet entirely clear why the gender-bending pro-Palestinian shooter opened fire in the pro-Israel Christian church, there appears to be an effort under way to downplay the possibility that religious and political hatred were major factors and instead blame gun access.

Quick background

Blaze News previously reported that Genesse Moreno, 36, bypassed a security guard and entered Lakewood Church with a 7-year-old child in tow just before the 2 p.m. Spanish-language service was scheduled to begin. Moreno, reportedly the child's biological mother despite sometimes going by the name Jeffrey Escalante, was dressed in a trench coat and armed with an Anderson Manufacturing AR-15 rifle. She was also carrying a .22 caliber rifle in a duffel bag.

According to police, Moreno began firing inside the hallway on the west side of the church at 1:55 p.m., prompting a response from a 28-year-old off-duty Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent, who fatally shot her.

The child who accompanied Moreno inside the building was struck in the head by a bullet during the exchange. He remains in critical condition at Texas Children's Hospital. Tom George Thomas, a 57-year-old volunteer at the church, took a bullet to the hip but has since been released from a hospital.

While certainly her last, this was not Moreno's first run-in with the law.

Over the past two decades, Moreno has been slapped with charges for drug possession, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and forgery, reported CNN.

Houston Homicide Commander Christopher Hassig indicated that the gender-bending shooter was also temporarily detained in 2016 over mental health concerns and has a history of mental illness.

KHOU-TV reported that Moreno's former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, claimed in court documents that the shooter had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and Munchausen by proxy; had harmed her child more than once; and had been the subject of multiple child protective services investigations.

The Houston Chronicle noted that Moreno lost custody of her son to her Jewish ex-husband at one point but apparently regained it in 2022.

Early in the investigation, police also indicated they had uncovered some of the shooter's "anti-Semitic writings."

Downplaying ideological motives

One of Moreno's neighbors told KPRC-TV that she routinely threatened nearby residents with weapons. Extra to painting a swastika on a neighbor's fence, she is alleged to have repeatedly made Nazi salutes in public.

Carranza told the New York Times that Moreno frequently targeted her Jewish in-laws with "very anti-Semitic" rants that "were very profane and ... horrible."

Despite acknowledging that her former daughter-in-law had been a practicing Muslim, Carranza stressed, "This has nothing to do with Islam. This ranting, I'm sure, was fueled by mental illness."

The former mother-in-law appeared to suggest in a Monday Facebook statement that religious or political hatred were ultimately the "excuse" for Moreno's attack.

"Although my former daughter-in-law raged against Israel and Jews in a pro Palestinian rant yesterday this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam. Nothing," wrote Carranza. "But this is what happens when reckless and irresponsible reporting lets people with severe mental illness have an excuse for violence."

After highlighting a potential trigger for the violence, Carranza pinned blame on the Lone Star State for "not having strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from owning or possessing a gun. Let it be clear that the second amendment stops where the first amendment right to life begins and it's time to remove from the US Constitution any protection for gun ownership."

Various Democratic lawmakers, including state Reps. Ann Johnson and Gene Wu, have amplified the suggestion that red-flag legislation such as Texas House Bill 3057 "could have prevented this very incident," reported the Chronicle.

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This is what a murder investigation looks like in 2024



In today’s woke society, our corrupt system seems to be more concerned with political correctness than serving justice.

Look no farther than the case against Genesse Moreno, who on February 11, fired an AR-15 into a crowd of people attending Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

However, instead of focusing solely on the victims and investigating Moreno’s crime, “the Houston Police Department had to run an entire investigation just to figure out what pronouns the shooter used,” sighs Dave Rubin before playing the clip of the commander of Houston PD’s homicide division, Chris Hassig, explaining the investigative efforts needed to prevent misgendering the offender.

“She has utilized both male and female names, but through all of our investigation to this point – talking with individuals, interviews, documents – Houston Police Department reports she has identified this entire time as female (she / her), and so we are identifying her as Genesse Moreno, Hispanic female,” Hassig announced.

“Oh, thank you,” mocks Dave, calling the entire ordeal “psychotic.”

To learn more, watch the clip below.


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Americans may not want to hear Tucker Carlson’s honest realization about Moscow



Tucker Carlson has not just come under fire for his recent interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin but for his praise of Moscow at the recent World Government Summit.

“What was radicalizing, very shocking, very disturbing for me was the city of Moscow,” Carlson told the audience, adding, “It was so much nicer than any city in my country.”

“It is so much cleaner, and safer, and prettier, aesthetically — it’s architecture, it’s food, it’s service — than any city in the United States,” Carlson continued.

Critics are calling Carlson “anti-American” for his comments, but Dave Rubin believes that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“There are other places on this planet that are not having the problems that we are having,” Dave Rubin says, adding, “and many of our problems seem to be self-inflicted.”

Those problems, Rubin notes, are easily identifiable.

“We can also point out the reasons that our cities have crumbled: Democrat leadership, progressive policies, the World Economic Forum, George Soros, not actually upholding laws, allowing criminals to ransack streets and stores and things of that nature,” he says.

Carlson’s comments aren’t anti-American, they are exactly the opposite of that. Rather, they’re an observation of where America is failing and where it can be better.

Instead of pretending America is the greatest country in the world to live in, Rubin believes it’s time “we reverse that constant culture decline that we are in” by looking at our issues and trying to actually fix them.

“They have done something right,” Rubin adds, “that doesn’t mean you’re bowing to Putin.”


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Americans May Not Want to Hear Tucker Carlson’s Honest Realization About Moscow

Americans May Not Want to Hear Tucker Carlson’s Honest Realization About Moscow

‘Free Palestine’ Shooter At Joel Osteen’s Houston Megachurch Foiled By Good Guys With Guns

Without the intervention of off-duty officers, more of Lakewood’s tens of thousands of attendees could have fallen victim to a mass shooting.

Shooting at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, bomb-threatening woman with child shoots 5-year-old, 57-year-old



Law enforcement officers responded to a "possible shooter" at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Texas on Sunday afternoon. The shooting suspect is reportedly dead, but a man and a child were shot.

KTRK reported, "The 2 p.m. Spanish-speaking service was about to begin when chaos erupted."

A witness told the outlet, "The whole church started praying and declaring Jesus' name. 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.'"

A man told KTRK that he ran out of the megachurch in southwest Houston with his three young daughters after hearing between 20 to 30 gunshots.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote at 3:10 p.m. EST on the X social media platform, "Receiving initial reports of possible shots fired at/or around Lakewood Church."

The Lakewood Church later stated, "There is an active situation involving shots fired at Lakewood. Law enforcement is on the scene."

Gonzalez said, "Shooter is down. But it does not appear that @HCSOTexas deputies fired shots; other agencies fired. We continue to assist in a methodical/thorough search of the complex."

Houston Police Department said that the suspect was a 30 to 35-year-old woman, who entered Lakewood Church with a long rifle, trenchcoat, and a backpack. She was accompanied by a child, who is approximately 5-years-old.

HPD Chief Troy Finner said the shooter at the Joel Osteen's Lakewood was shot by off-duty Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officers.

However, a 5-year-old was also shot, and is in critical condition. A 57-year-old was shot in the leg.

The shooter allegedly threatened to have bombs, but law enforcement has not found any explosives.

A police spokesman said, "She had a long gun and it could've been a lot worse."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released the following statement:

Our hearts are with those impacted by today's tragic shooting and the entire Lakewood Church community in Houston. Places of worship are sacred. I have been in contact with Mayor Whitmire and offered the full support and resources of the State of Texas, including Department of Public Safety officers and Texas Rangers, to help this community and help bring swift justice to the criminal who committed this heinous act. Join Cecilia and me in praying for this community during this difficult time and for the brave men and women in blue who acted quickly to respond to this tragedy.

This is a developing story and will be updated when new details arrive.

— (@)

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Plumber who discovered mountain of money hidden inside wall at Joel Osteen's Texas megachurch receives a reward. Church says it hopes plumber will pay it forward.



The Texas plumber who discovered several hundred envelopes with checks, cash, and more inside a wall at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church has received a $20,000 reward for his discovery, Fox News reported.

The church said that it hopes the plumber pays the gift forward.

What are the details?

The plumber, identified by only his first name, Justin, will receive the money from Crime Stoppers of Houston in connection with the find.

Local police believe that the discovery is related to the 2014 robbery in which the church reportedly lost $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks.

According to the outlet, Crime Stoppers of Houston announced a $5,000 reward back in 2014 in connection with the burglary. Lakewood Church put up a supplemental $20,000 reward at the time, which it ultimately donated to the Crime Stoppers organization in 2016 after the statute of limitations expired.

It is not known at the time of this reporting how much cash was recovered from the wall behind the toilet.

"Crime Stoppers of Houston is a public safety organization that thrives on the public safety of all communities. We believe that it takes all of us, working together, to keep Houston safe and thriving. In 2014, Lakewood Church gave us $20,000 to work on this case. In 2016, they chose to gift us those funds for operations. Today, we are gifting that same about of money to this Good Samaritan and wishing he and his family a wonderful holiday season," Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious in a statement on the news.

Earlier this week, the plumber told a local radio station that the find was shocking.

"There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile," he revealed. "We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall, and I was like 'Oh, wow!'"

The church confirmed the find in a statement, which read, "Recently, while repair work was being done at Lakewood Church, an undisclosed amount of cash and checks were found. Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation. Lakewood has no further comment at this time."

Anything else?

The church in a follow-up statement said that it has high hopes that Justin will pay the gift forward.

"In 2016, Lakewood Church made a $20,000 charitable donation to Crime Stoppers of Houston to help solve this case and support them for all they do for the community," the Tuesday statement read. "We are appreciative of the plumber, and we hope he pays the gift forward."

Plumber discovers mountain of cash-stuffed envelopes hidden inside wall at Joel Osteen's Texas megachurch



A Houston, Texas, plumber discovered thousands of envelopes stuffed full of cash and checks inside a bathroom wall last month, according to KRPC-TV.

The news comes several years after the televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church was reportedly victimized in a high-profile burglary that took place in 2014.

At the time, the church announced that $600,000 in cash and checks were stolen from the church, but no arrests were made at the time and the money was reportedly not recovered.

What are the details?

A plumber named Justin reported that he discovered the massive haul of cash while repairing a toilet at the Houston church in November.

Earlier this week, he told local radio station 100.3 The Bull, "There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile. We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall, and I was like 'Oh, wow!'"

He added that he immediately contacted his supervisor and reported that he'd discovered a horde of cash-stuffed envelopes during his work.

"I went ahead and contacted the maintenance supervisor that was there, and I turned it all in," Justin explained.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Lakewood Church confirmed the discovery of an "undisclosed amount of cash" and acknowledged that the Houston Police Department has been notified.

“Recently, while repair work was being done at Lakewood Church, an undisclosed amount of cash and checks were found," the statement read. "Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation. Lakewood has no further comment at this time."

It is unclear at the time of this reporting just how much cash was recovered or whether the discovery is related to the 2014 burglary.

At the time, the Houston Police Department said that at least $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks were stolen from the church's safe.

The church in 2014 issued the following statement to parishioners:

We were heartbroken to learn today that funds were stolen from the church over the weekend. This includes cash, checks and envelopes containing written credit card information, and it is limited only to those funds contributed in the church services on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 2014. If you made a contribution during these weekend services, we would encourage you to pay close attention to your accounts over the next several days and weeks and report any suspicious activity to your financial institution or credit card company immediately.It is important to note this was not an electronic data breach, but was instead limited to donations made in the services on March 8 and 9, 2014. You were not affected if you put your offering in a drop box, you gave online or through other electronic means, or you made a bookstore purchase. We are working with the police to fully investigate the incident. The funds were fully insured, and we are working with our insurance company to restore the stolen funds to the church.

Money, checks found in wall of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, years after $600K burglarywww.youtube.com