A trans shooter with ‘Free Palestine’ inscribed on their gun was shot dead by off-duty police after opening fire inside Texas pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch on Sunday. Osteen said the congregation is “devastated” and he would pray for the victims, the shooter and their families. The shooter brought a five-year-old boy along to Lakewood Church in Houston just before 2 p.m. local time, between church services. The child was shot and hospitalized in critical condition. It is unclear who shot the child and what relationship the trans shooter had to the child. One other person, a 57-year-old man, was shot in the hip. He was wounded but said to be in stable condition, according to local police reports. Lakewood is the third-largest megachurch in the US, with 45,000 members, per the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.Early media reports described the shooter as a woman in a trenchcoat with a backpack and an AK-47 inscribed with the words, ‘Free Palestine.'The identity of the person was determined Monday. The shooter, who is a biological woman who identifies as a man, goes by the name Jeffrey Escalante, but was born Genessa Ivonne Moreno, per US Civil Defence News. .Two off-duty officers, one with the Houston Police Department and the other from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, confronted the shooter as churchgoers fled the building. As per police protocol, the officers have each been placed on administrative duty while the matter is being investigated. After being shot, the terrorist said they had a bomb. Authorities found no explosives in the shooter’s backpack or vehicle, and emergency services spent hours sweeping the building afterwards. .Witnesses reported hearing gunshots just before the 2 p.m. Spanish-language service was set to begin. One congregant, Christina Rodriguez, told Houston television station KTRK she “started screaming, ‘there’s a shooter, there's a shooter,"' and she and other church members hid in the building’s library and stairwells until they were told it was safe to leave. Houston police Chief Troy Finner confirmed the shooter “had a long gun,” and said it “could have been a lot worse” had the two off-duty officers, who were at the church doing security, not been there to “engage” the terrorist. Finner praised the two men for being quick on their feet and intervening in the hostile situation. .Osteen extended a word of encouragement after the attack. "We're going to stay strong and we're going to continue to move forward," said Osteen. "There are forces of evil, but the forces that are for us — the forces of God — are stronger than that.”“So we're going to keep going strong and doing what God's called us to do: lift people up and give hope to the world."Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, "Our hearts are with those impacted by today's tragic shooting and the entire Lakewood Church community in Houston. Places of worship are sacred."
A trans shooter with ‘Free Palestine’ inscribed on their gun was shot dead by off-duty police after opening fire inside Texas pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch on Sunday. Osteen said the congregation is “devastated” and he would pray for the victims, the shooter and their families. The shooter brought a five-year-old boy along to Lakewood Church in Houston just before 2 p.m. local time, between church services. The child was shot and hospitalized in critical condition. It is unclear who shot the child and what relationship the trans shooter had to the child. One other person, a 57-year-old man, was shot in the hip. He was wounded but said to be in stable condition, according to local police reports. Lakewood is the third-largest megachurch in the US, with 45,000 members, per the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.Early media reports described the shooter as a woman in a trenchcoat with a backpack and an AK-47 inscribed with the words, ‘Free Palestine.'The identity of the person was determined Monday. The shooter, who is a biological woman who identifies as a man, goes by the name Jeffrey Escalante, but was born Genessa Ivonne Moreno, per US Civil Defence News. .Two off-duty officers, one with the Houston Police Department and the other from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, confronted the shooter as churchgoers fled the building. As per police protocol, the officers have each been placed on administrative duty while the matter is being investigated. After being shot, the terrorist said they had a bomb. Authorities found no explosives in the shooter’s backpack or vehicle, and emergency services spent hours sweeping the building afterwards. .Witnesses reported hearing gunshots just before the 2 p.m. Spanish-language service was set to begin. One congregant, Christina Rodriguez, told Houston television station KTRK she “started screaming, ‘there’s a shooter, there's a shooter,"' and she and other church members hid in the building’s library and stairwells until they were told it was safe to leave. Houston police Chief Troy Finner confirmed the shooter “had a long gun,” and said it “could have been a lot worse” had the two off-duty officers, who were at the church doing security, not been there to “engage” the terrorist. Finner praised the two men for being quick on their feet and intervening in the hostile situation. .Osteen extended a word of encouragement after the attack. "We're going to stay strong and we're going to continue to move forward," said Osteen. "There are forces of evil, but the forces that are for us — the forces of God — are stronger than that.”“So we're going to keep going strong and doing what God's called us to do: lift people up and give hope to the world."Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, "Our hearts are with those impacted by today's tragic shooting and the entire Lakewood Church community in Houston. Places of worship are sacred."
