Genesse Ivonne Moreno was the person who opened fire on Joel Osteen at the Lakewood Church of Houston. She had a disturbing history of harassing and threatening her neighbors for years before the mass shooting attempt that took place Sunday. New details have been revealed about Moreno’s mental health and past confrontations. This could shed some light on her possible motives.
Moreno’s unsettling behavior was well known by her neighbors in Conroe. Her neighbors alerted authorities to her unsettling behavior but without success.
Residents of the small Houston neighborhood claimed to have had run-ins years before the shooter opened up at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church. The suspect frightened the residents.
Six women living in Conroe a suburb of north Houston said Genesse Ivonne Moreno targeted them and harassed, threatened, and displayed firearms. They also felt afraid to leave their homes.
The women held a press conference on the driveway of their home late Monday afternoon to discuss what they had been through and criticize the officials for not responding to the reports they made about Moreno.
No one should have been killed. Nobody should have been injured. It should have been dealt with years ago. And here we are, again”, said Jill. The president of the neighborhood group refused to give her last name for fear of retaliation.
The press conference reflects frustration over missed chances to stop the violent attack. Questions about the motives of the shooter remain unanswered as the investigation continues. Moreno’s motivations could have included anti-Jewish prejudice and mental problems.
Authorities also clarified the reported sticker/writing on the weapon.
The authorities stated that Genesse’s AR-15 had a sticker on the buttstock with the word “Palestine”. Previous reports stated incorrectly that the long gun displayed the words “Free Palestine”. Hassig said “antisemitic texts” were discovered during subsequent investigations.
The authorities also provided additional background information that could point to a possible motive.
Hassig said the shooter also had a mental illness history and was placed under emergency detention by Houston police. Genesse may have purchased one of the weapons used in the attack legally as recently as December. The commander said the shooter could have been involved in a family dispute with the ex-husband’s family.
Hassig stated that “we do believe a family dispute occurred between her and the ex-husband’s family. Some of these people are Jewish.”
Two off-duty officers stopped Moreno from attacking. They returned fire and killed her. A 57-year-old man and Moreno’s 7-year-old child were both injured in the shooting.
One of the gunman’s neighbors said that they tried to “stop this” but that they couldn’t “do more than what they did.”
One resident recalled that Moreno “screamed exclamations” and pointed a gun at her during an altercation. It appears that despite alerting authorities to the shooter’s behavior, no meaningful action was taken.
Five of the women spoke out and said that things had gotten so bad in their neighborhood, that they spent a full day talking with local officials, police, sheriff’s offices, and city legal departments. Linda Giutta said that they wrote letters to the property management company of the neighborhood, met with the lawyer, and called the media.
The law enforcement knew that the shooter was a long-time sufferer of mental illness.
Houston police placed Moreno under emergency detention in 2016 due to her documented mental health history. Records of law enforcement indicate that she has been arrested multiple times since 2005. She admitted to illegally possessing a firearm and to a lesser offense after authorities accused her of assaulting a government official.
While the community deals with the aftermath of the tragedy, questions remain about the law enforcement’s response to reports that the shooter was mentally unstable and violent. There were warning signs that should have been addressed in the years before the attack. This shooting is similar in this respect to other incidents where the attacker’s problems were known before.