Texas megachurch attacker identified as five-year-old boy fights for life

Police officers watch over churchgoers outside Lakewood Church, Texas after a reported shooting during a Spanish church service (Karen Warren/AP)

An attacker who opened fire at a Texas megachurch before they were killed by security officers was carrying an AR-style rifle, according to search warrant documents released by a US court office.

The assailant was identified as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno in an affidavit seeking a search warrant for a home in Conroe, about 40 miles north of Houston where the attack took place.

The warrant was released by the Montgomery County district attorney’s office on Monday.

A woman holds her face as she waits with others outside Lakewood Church following the attack (Karen Warren/AP)

A motive for the attack at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, which sent churchgoers rushing for safety in between busy services on Sunday, remains unclear.

The search warrant affidavit requested FBI assistance in retrieving any data from electronic devices found in the Conroe home.

Authorities have said a five-year-old boy who entered the church with the attacker, along with a man in his 50s, were injured in the shooting.

They added that the boy was in critical condition.