Connect with us

Southwest

Lakewood shooting: Grandma shares update on 7-year-old shot at Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch

Published

on

Lakewood shooting: Grandma shares update on 7-year-old shot at Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!

Please enter a valid email address.

By entering your email, you are agreeing to Fox News Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided.

The 7-year-old boy shot at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church earlier this month is fighting for his life after multiple surgeries to his brain and skull, according to his grandmother. 

Shooter Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, entered the Houston megachurch around 2 p.m. with her own son, Samuel Moreno Carranza, before opening fire with an AR-15. The young boy and another man were critically wounded at the scene.

Advertisement

The boy’s grandmother, Walli Carranza, wrote in a Wednesday Facebook post that “half of his right skull 1708619354 has to be surgically removed during two surgeries done in less than 24 hours.” 

LAKEWOOD CHURCH HOLDS HEALING AND PRAISE SERVICE A WEEK AFTER FATAL SHOOTING

Harris County Sheriffs officers stand outside of the Lakewood Church on Sunday, Feb. 11, in Houston, following the shooting. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

“He was in cardiac arrest multiple times and no one can determine whether he has significant brain activity because his scalp tissue is too friable to allow the attachment of EEG wires,” the boy’s grandmother wrote. 

Moreno’s second victim, a 57-year-old man, was shot in the leg but was in stable condition later that day, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner previously told Fox News Digital. 

Advertisement

One of two armed, off-duty law enforcement officers working security at the church shot Moreno in a subsequent firefight – she would later succumb to her injuries. 

It is unclear whether the boy was shot by his mother or the security guards trying to subdue her. 

LAKEWOOD CHURCH SHOOTER IDENTIFIED AS GENESSE IVONNE MORENO; ‘PALESTINE’ WRITTEN ON GUN

The Lakewood Church shooting suspect has been identified as Genesse Ivonne Moreno. (Texas Department of Public Safety)

“I don’t want to speculate on that, but what I would say is if it was, unfortunately, and that female, that suspect put that baby in danger, I’m going to put that blame on her,” Finner said during a press conference last week.

Advertisement

After Moreno “went down,” Finner said, the officers at the scene quickly searched her backpack and vehicle for explosives due to earlier threats she’d made. 

NEIGHBORS OF LAKEWOOD CHURCH SHOOTER DETAIL YEARS OF ‘HELL,’ POLICE INACTION: ‘ONLY A MATTER OF TIME’

Pastor Joel Osteen wipes away tears as he talks about last week’s shooting at Lakewood Church, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in Houston.  (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

“My faith tradition demands of me compassion, and I have it for my deceased daughter-in-law,” the boy’s grandmother wrote in her post. “She has schizophrenia and, now we know, anti-social personality disorder. Her brain was broken.” 

The grandmother claimed that, despite more than 20 previous reports of neglect and medical abuse to child protective services in Harris and Montgomery Counties, law enforcement never intervened in the at-risk woman’s life. Previously, the grandmother claimed, guns were found in Moreno’s diaper bag, purse and car by authorities. 

Advertisement

Pastor Joel Osteen prays during a service at Lakewood Church Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in Houston. Osteen welcomed worshippers back to Lakewood Church for the first time since a woman with an AR-style opened fire in between services at his Texas megachurch last Sunday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The bereaved woman wrote that her grandson had “no protection of his God-given right to life” because “the very same legislators who claim to be ‘pro-life’ believe that unbridled gun rights matter and the right to life does not.”

“What is the excuse for those who knew and did nothing and for legislators who refuse to allow red flag laws but do allow anyone to buy an assault weapon?” Carranza asked.

She called for legislators to “repeal the second amendment” on the grounds that “[the first] means too much to allow the second.”

Previously, Moreno’s neighbors detailed years of harassment and threats from Moreno and their unsuccessful attempts to alert authorities to her unstable condition. 

Advertisement

A long line of cars forms outside of Lakewood Church, where Gennesse Ivonne Moreno opened fire on Feb. 11. (Photo by Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Moreno’s motivation for the shooting is still unclear. Antisemitic writings were found inside the vehicle she drove to the church, police said. Although police did not say what was written, they suggested that it may have stemmed from a familial dispute involving her ex-husband and his family – some of whom are Jewish, police say. 

The word “Palestine” was written on the woman’s gun, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Moreno, who is originally from El Salvador, had a criminal history including convictions for assaulting a police officer in 2009 and forgery in 2010. 

Fox News Digital previously reported that she had six previous arrests dating back to 2005, and used several male and female aliases, including Jeffrey Escalante Moreno.

Advertisement

LAKEWOOD CHURCH SHOOTING: WOMAN WITH CHILD IN TOW OPENS FIRE INSIDE JOEL OSTEEN’S TEXAS MEGACHURCH

Houston Police officers watch over displaced churchgoers outside Lakewood Church on Sunday following the shooting. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Members of the FBI, the Texas Rangers, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Conroe and Houston Police Departments were investigating a property Monday in Conroe, north of Houston, that was believed to be Moreno’s residence, KPRC reported.

 

Investigators said they will look into how Moreno was able to purchase the two guns, one of which, Hassig said, was legally purchased in December.

Advertisement

Yesterday, the church held its first service since the shooting, with Osteen telling parishioners the event had caused “a lot of trauma.” Houston Mayor John Whitmire and police Chief Troy Finner were both invited on stage to speak.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Los Angeles, Ca

L.A. police shoot knife-wielding man during response to assault call 

Published

on

L.A. police shoot knife-wielding man during response to assault call 

A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said. 

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex. 

Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.

A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said. Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance. May 2026. (ANG)

“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”

Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence. 

Advertisement

No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released. 

Continue Reading

Los Angeles, Ca

Rip tides, high surf forecast for Los Angeles beaches this weekend

Published

on

Rip tides, high surf forecast for Los Angeles beaches this weekend

Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.

“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”

  • Rip Currents

Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.

“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.

Advertisement

Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.

Continue Reading

Los Angeles, Ca

Los Angeles releases searchable list of worst rental properties

Published

on

Los Angeles releases searchable list of worst rental properties

If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.

“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.

The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.

“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.

Advertisement

Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.

The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:

1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases

2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases

3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases

Advertisement

“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending