An officer knelt and prayed over a 7-year-old boy who was shot in the head, during a shooting last month at Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, recently-released video footage shows.

The boy, Samuel Moreno, was the son of 36-year-old Genesse Moreno, the shooter at Osteen’s Lakewood Church on Feb. 11. Samuel was injured during the confrontation, and his mother was killed by two off-duty officers, El Informe Roys (TRR) previamente reportado. 

The Houston Police Department (HPD) uploaded edited footage of the Feb. 11 shooting at the church to its Canal de Youtube last week. Captured by security cameras and police body cameras, the videos display how events unfolded from multiple perspectives.

“We realize the video of this shooting may be unsettling to members of the community. HPD is releasing it as part of our commitment to release critical incident videos within 30 days,” HPD Chief Troy Finner dijo en un comunicado on Facebook. “While we know there are unanswered questions, this is still an active investigation. . . Our partnership with religious institutions remains a priority. We will continue to work to enhance safety so that all who gather can do so safely and without fear.”

A video from a police body camera shows a female officer, identified as Garcia, standing with colleagues as shots echo and people began running away from the noise.

“Why are people running?” the officer asks before heading toward the sound of the gunfire. “Father God. . . we need to get closer,” Garcia says as she moves closer.

Garcia then finds Samuel Moreno wounded and unconscious and kneels over him. “Father God, please bring him close to you,” Garcia said.

Police Chief Finner dijo en un comunicado on Facebook that Samuel Moreno “continues to fight for his life” and needs prayer.

Otro 26-minute video compilation of security footage shows Genesee Moreno charging down a hallway while shooting her gun at officers. Dressed in a tan trench coat, she suddenly stops, sets her gun down next to her backpack, and pulls something out of the bag.

She picks her gun back up and aims it before laying it on the floor again. For a second time, she rifles through the bag and throws an object on the ground. She stands back up to pace the floor with something in her hands. Genesee Moreno is then shot and slumps over.

Police reportedly recovered a .22 caliber rifle, which was not used in the shooting, and an AR-15 with a “Palestine” sticker, at the scene, TRR informado.

In a third, 6-minute police body camera video, Moreno can be heard exchanging shots with several nearby officers. After Moreno’s son is shot in the head, she believes him to be dead and tells police she will blow up the church.

“I will blow up this whole f— place. You killed my son,” she told officers. As several more shots went off, Moreno said, “Stand down. I have a bomb. I have a f— bomb,”

As gunfire sporadically continued, police tell Moreno to drop her gun but she refused. She said, “All I need is help. All I need is help. I need help, that’s all. I just need help. There’s a bomb in this bag. Stop shooting.” 

Moreno’s vehicle and backpack were later searched for a bomb, but nothing was found, according to earlier police reports.

Katherine Schweit, who created the FBI’s active shooter response program, praised the quick responses of the officers in an interview with KHOU11.

“It was gripping to listen to the officer asking God to guide them and knowing that she needed to move forward as fast as she could,” she said. “The frightening part that is the reality you see in that video footage is that she doesn’t know what she’s going to face.”

Schweit said the decision by the off-duty officers to take out Genesee Moreno saved lives.

“When you’re in the heat of it, your objective is to try to get to the shooter and neutralize the shooter,” Schweit said. “And then you have to pick up the pieces afterward and that poor little boy is part of those messy parts.” 

Moreno’s attack at the church partially stemmed from mental health struggles and a custody battle over her son, Moreno’s former mother-in-law, Walli Carranza, told KHOU11.

Carranza also told La Prensa Asociada she reached out to Lakewood Church for help regarding Moreno. During a custody battle between Carranza’s son and Moreno over Samuel, the mother-in-law’s attorney sent emails to Lakewood Church in 2020 and 2021, asking for support. The request was made based on a belief that Moreno’s mother was a member of the church.

However, Don Iloff, a Lakewood Church spokesperson, told The Associated Press that their records show Moreno only attended the church “sporadically” for a couple of years. He added that they have no record of Moreno’s mother attendance at the megachurch and found no emails from Carranza’s attorney.

Last week, the mother-in-law shared on Facebook that her grandson Samuel is continuing to heal and even smiled.

“Samuel Carranza smiled today!” she said in a correo. “That has made the day of this Bubbe.”

She continued her post by asking, “Two weeks ago, was he excited to be getting dressed up in his Sunday best? Two weeks ago, as he was driving in his car seat, did he and his mother talk about going to his abuela’s church or did Genèse tell him he was being led to the slaughter?”

Carranza said that one blessing of “that most horrific day” is that Samuel doesn’t remember it. “He is a tableau blanche; a clean slate,” she said.

Freelance journalist Liz Lykins escribe for WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.