Sweetwater Reporter

Texas Shooter

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(continued from Page 3) Carranza said Child Protective Services was notified after Moreno was accused by nurses of putting adult medication in her son’s feeding tube after his birth in 2016. Other concerns, including allegation­s that Moreno left guns unattended in her home, were also forwarded to CPS but no action was taken, Carranza said.

“My great concern for Sam was that he was going to shoot himself, and that’s what we warned against,” Carranza said. She added that in January 2020, when Moreno and her grandson visited her in Colorado, Samuel pulled a handgun from his diaper bag and gave it to her. Melissa Landford, spokespers­on for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, said CPS could not comment on the case for confidenti­ality reasons.

Carranza also said that in 2020 and 2021, her attorney sent emails to Lakewood Church asking for assistance with intervenin­g in Moreno’s struggles, believing that Moreno’s mother attended the church.

Church spokesman Don Iloff said Wednesday that records show Moreno “sporadical­ly” attended services at Lakewood for a couple years but there were no records of her being at the church after 2022.

Iloff said they were still looking but had not found any records showing Moreno’s mother attended the church. He added that church officials also had not found records of the emails sent by Carranza’s attorney but they were still looking.

Iloff said in situations where someone may reach out for help, what the church can offer them is spiritual and biblical counseling.

“If we had reached out and (Moreno) had accepted counseling, then we definitely would have been more than happy to provide that,” Iloff said.

In a video message on Instagram, Osteen invited people to attend a special service at the church this coming Sunday to celebrate a “time of healing and restoratio­n.”

“We are not people of fear. We are people of faith. God has us in the palm of his hand, and this is not the time to shrink back. This is the time to turn to God, to rally together,” Osteen said.

Texas law generally bans someone convicted of a felony from owning a gun for several years after they are released from prison. Misdemeano­rs connected to domestic violence will also trigger a ban.

But Moreno’s extensive list of misdemeano­rs, ranging from forging a $100 bill to shopliftin­g and assault, did not meet that threshold.

Texas also lacks a so-called “red flag” law, which generally allows law enforcemen­t or family members to ask a judge to order the seizure or surrender of guns from someone who is deemed dangerous, often because of mental health concerns or threats of violence.

Carranza said she met for hours with FBI agents on Tuesday, discussing the reports she filed over the years about Moreno.

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