HOUSTON– A megachurch in Houston was scheduled to hold a special service Sunday, a week after a woman opened fire in one of its hallways before being shot by security officers.
Lakewood Church, run by famed Pastor Joel Osteen, has not had services since the Feb. 11 shooting, sending worshipers scrambling for safety.
Police say Genenesse Moreno, 36, entered the church between Sunday services with her 7-year-old son and started shooting. Moreno did not reach the main shrine and was killed after exchanging gunfire with two off-duty officers. The shooting injured two people, including Moreno’s son, who was shot in the head and remained hospitalized.
Questions about the shooting remain unanswered, including Moreno’s motive and details about how she obtained the AR-style rifle she used.
Moreno’s former mother-in-law, Walli Carranza, told The Associated Press that Moreno had long struggled with mental illness. Carranza said she believed systemic failures and lax gun laws ultimately led to the shooting.
In a video message posted to social media on Wednesday, Osteen said the special CST service was held at 11 a.m. on Sunday to celebrate a “time of healing and restoration.”
“It was a difficult week, something we never dreamed we would have to deal with. But we look back now and see the faithfulness of God and how he protected us and watched over us,” Osteen said.
The shooting should not deter people from gathering, Osteen said.
“There are forces that would have us shrink back and live in fear, afraid of what might happen at school or in the grocery store, at work or even in church. But we are not people of fear. We are people of faith. God has us in the palm of his hand, and this is not the time to back down,” Osteen said.
Police have not said what prompted Moreno to go to Lakewood Church and start shooting.
Church spokesman Don Iloff said Wednesday’s records show Moreno attended services in Lakewood “sporadically” for a few years, but there are no records of her being at the church after 2022.
Carranza said she tried to warn authorities and others about Moreno’s mental health issues, and Carranza’s attorney sent emails to Lakewood Church in 2020 and 2021 asking for help in intervening in Moreno’s struggles.
Church officials had found no record of the emails, but they were still searching, Iloff said.
Texas lacks a so-called “red flag” law, which generally allows law enforcement officers or family members to ask a judge to order the seizure or surrender of guns from someone considered dangerous, often because of mental health issues or threats of violence.
Moreno used both male and female aliases, but investigators discovered through interviews and previous police reports that Moreno identified as female, Houston Police Chief Chris Hassig said.
Osteen, 60, preaches to about 45,000 people every week at the church in a former basketball arena and is known to millions of others for his televised sermons. According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Lakewood is the third largest megachurch in the US.
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