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Less than two years before Genesse Moreno stormed Texas’ largest megachurch with an AR-15 rifle and opened fire, her neighbor called the Conroe Police Department to report serious concerns.
Moreno, they said, had a mental illness and used drugs. Worryingly, she also owned multiple firearms.
The call, in June 2022, was not the first time neighbors had contacted police about Moreno. Records obtained by the Abdelraoufsinno document dozens of 911 calls since 2019 reporting what neighbors viewed as erratic and threatening behavior.
None of the incidents, however, rose to the level where police felt they could bring charges or take her into custody — steps that might have ultimately led to the courts preventing Moreno, 36, from legally obtaining the weapons she used in Sunday’s shooting.
Moreno was killed Sunday in a shoot-out with security officers after she opened fire in a hallway at Lakewood Church, the world-famous congregation led by celebrity pastor Joel Osteen. Moreno’s 7-year-old son, who she brought to the scene, was shot in the head during the firefight, law enforcement officials said Monday. The child remains in critical condition at Texas Children’s Hospital, according to Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza.
At a press conference Monday, officials with various law enforcement agencies declined to provide a motive for the shooting, but said that Moreno had a documented history of mental illness. They also said that Moreno purchased the firearm she used in the shooting legally.
The 911 calls from neighbors, coupled with Moreno’s known mental illness, illustrate the lack of recourse available in Texas when individuals who could represent a threat to themselves or others possess firearms.
“Red flag” laws allow judges to remove firearms from people deemed to be a risk to themselves or others. They are on the books in 21 states, according to the gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety — but not in Texas.
“My faith tradition demands of me compassion and I have it for my deceased daughter-in-law,” Carranza wrote in an emotional Facebook post Monday. “Her brain was broken. What is the excuse for those who knew and did nothing and for legislators who refuse to allow red flag laws but do allow anyone to buy an assault weapon.”
Many calls, minimal action
Moreno’s history with her neighbors was fraught with conflict.
One neighbor, Jill Toth, contacted police about Moreno 19 times between 2020 and 2023, call logs show, including by visiting the police department in person. In November 2023, just three months before the shooting, she called to report Moreno again – this time for deliberately spraying her with a water hose.
The responding officer deemed the incident “non-criminal,” but Toth warned him that she had been having issues with Moreno for the better part of three years and that a larger confrontation seemed inevitable.
The incident, records show, was typical of neighbors’ grievances about Moreno, which largely involved nonviolent behaviors like playing loud music and, on one occasion, pointing a camera at another house, both complaints from Toth.
The most serious allegation in the call log records came from a different neighbor, who reported that Moreno tried to hit her with a car. The neighbor also told people that Moreno had “mental issues” and “the whole neighborhood has problems with her.”
The responding officer in the case determined that “no vehicular agg[ravated] assault occurred,” though the records don’t not explain why. A spokesperson for the Conroe Police Department could not be reached for comment Thursday.
On the same day of the car allegation, Carranza called Conroe police about threatening emails she received from Moreno. She said Moreno was “a diagnosed schizophrenic” and wanted police to conduct a welfare check on the safety of Moreno’s child, Carranza’s grandson.
A Conroe police officer concluded that “no offense had occurred” after reading the emails, and a welfare check would not be done “due to the circumstances,” according to a call log. The also officer wrote that they contacted a Montgomery County prosecutor about potential harassment charges, but the prosecutor would not accept charges “due to the ongoing litigations” and conflicts between Moreno and Carranza’s son.
The records do not elaborate on how any legal matters or conflicts influenced the decision not to pursue charges.
Conroe police also responded on several occasions to calls from Moreno, who complained of harassment by her ex-husband and former mother-in-law. On two occasions, officers identified Moreno as possibly having a mental illness.
In a statement Tuesday, Conroe Police Sgt. David Dickerson said department officials determined that staff members “handled the calls appropriately and according to law” after reviewing the calls following Sunday’s shooting.
“Nothing relayed to officers would give the authority to arrest or require mental health emergency detention; nor would any of the information have been an indication that the suspect would commit such a heinous crime,” Dickerson said.
Couldn’t stop the purchase
Texas’ gun laws, which earned an F rating from the gun-control nonprofit Giffords Center, do not include many provisions for individuals with a history of mental illness.
The state Department of Public Safety works with the FBI to maintain a database of all individuals court-ordered to receive mental health treatment at a hospital or residential facility. Federally licensed dealers must check each buyer against that system before selling that person a gun.
However, private sellers who are not licensed dealers are not subject to that requirement, creating the legal gap commonly referred to as the “gun-show loophole.”
Moreno’s documented history of mental illness included an emergency detention order in 2016, according to Houston police, a move that allows police to temporarily detain a person experiencing a severe mental health crisis without making a formal arrest or bringing charges.
Houston police did not disclose details on the incident that triggered the detention, but no records have emerged indicating that a judge ordered Moreno to receive mental health treatment at a hospital or residential facility. Such an order would have made it harder for her to purchase a gun.
Meanwhile, the “red flag” laws highlighted by Moreno’s former mother-in-law face staunch opposition in the conservative Texas Legislature, where opponents argue such laws constitute “pre-crime punishment” and violate due process.
Nevertheless, the shooting has prompted renewed calls for action.
“As more details are learned about Lakewood Church shooter Genesse Moreno, including repeated arrests and mental health history, I continue to believe red flag laws could help save lives by giving law enforcement the tools they need to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous criminals and folks who pose a threat to their communities,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted on social media Thursday.
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