HOUSTON — The gunfire that shattered the calm at pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston only lasted about four minutes.
But surveillance video and police body camera footage released Monday, more than two weeks after the Feb. 11 shooting at Lakewood Church, showed the terror of the brief attack: Parishioners scattering, searching for safety in rooms and hallways. Officers drawing guns and taking cover behind walls. And the shooter’s 7-year-old son covering his ears during the chaos, and moments later laying on the floor after being shot and wounded.
“Put the weapon down, now,” an officer can be heard shouting before firing his weapon. Another officer cautions: “She may have a bomb.”
Houston police released the roughly 26 minutes of video, which includes the sounds of dozens of bursts of gunfire, as questions remain over the attack that left the shooter, Genesse Moreno, 36, dead and two others injured. Authorities have still not released a motive for the shooting or confirmed who shot Moreno’s young son in the head. He remains in critical condition.
Authorities say the woman entered the church between Sunday services and began firing an AR-style rifle. Moreno did not reach the main sanctuary and was killed after exchanging gunfire with two off-duty officers. In addition to Moreno’s son, another man was wounded.
The video shows what looked like, from all appearances, a typical Sunday at one of the nation’s largest megachurches as people stood around and talked in the hallways outside the nearly 16,000-seat venue.
Minutes earlier, according to security footage from Lakewood Church, Moreno had arrived at the church in a white SUV. She is seen taking her son, Samuel, out of the back seat and walking toward the building. Moreno is wearing a black shirt, striped pants, boots, and a loose-fitting tan-colored trench coat.
Footage from one body camera showed people chatting before suddenly jolting at the sound of the first gunshot. Confused, some…
Read the full article here
