Police reportedly identified Sunday's would-be shooter at Lakewood Church as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, who once went by the name Jeffrey Escalante.
A raid of the transgender suspect's home in Conroe, Texas, is underway to collect clues on motive and means for Sunday's attack that left two injured, including a 5-year-old boy who accompanied her and a 57-year-old man at the church, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.
Moreno, wearing a trenchcoat, opened fire inside celebrity Pastor Joel Osteen's megachurch in Texas before being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her, sending worshippers rushing from the building between busy Sunday services, authorities said.
A pro-Palestinian message "Free Palestine" reportedly was written on the suspect's gun, sources told ABC News.
The woman entered the Houston church with boy, 5, shortly before 2 p.m. ET. The child was shot and critically injured. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said it was not clear if the child was struck by the off-duty officers who returned fire.
The man was stable with a hip wound.
Finner said that after the woman began shooting, both officers "engaged" her and the woman was killed. He said "a 5-year-old kid was hit," although he released no immediate details on how the confrontation unfolded.
Finner praised the officers for quickly confronting the woman.
"She had a long gun, and it could have been a lot worse," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.