A woman in her 30s opened fire Sunday afternoon at a Houston Christian megachurch led by televangelist and pastor Joel Osteen, critically injuring a child, authorities said.
Just before 2 p.m., a woman carrying a long rifle and wearing a trench coat and backpack entered Lakewood Church, one of the largest congregations in the United States. Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference Sunday that she brought her child, who was about 4 or 5 years old.
Chief Finner said two off-duty police officers responded and the woman was shot. The child was also shot, but it is unclear who shot him, and he remains in critical condition at a Houston-area hospital, along with a man in his 50s who was shot in the leg.
Chief Finner said the woman threatened to have a bomb and appeared to be spraying an unidentified substance on the ground, noting that authorities found no explosives.
“She had a long gun and the situation could have been much worse,” he said, noting that authorities did not believe there was any further danger to the public. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
The shooting occurred during the church's Spanish-language service, which is attended by thousands of people every Sunday.
Video posted on the church's social media showed worshipers standing and cheering as a band played on stage early Sunday morning. Another program, broadcast weekly on television and reaching millions of viewers, showed Mr. Osteen addressing his congregation.
“We're in a fog, but we're going to stay strong,” Osteen said at a news conference. “There is a power of evil, but the power of God is greater.”
Del Davis, 71, and his wife, Denise, were inside the church building when Davis said they heard gunshots. The avid gun collector and former EMT said he knew right away he had been shot.
“When you hear gunfire, you hear it,” he said. “Then we smelled gun smoke,” he said, as he and his wife, a volunteer at the church, fled as the crowd dispersed. “It’s always packed,” he said of the church services.
Another witness told television station KHOU that he was inside the church when he heard several shots and saw a person, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, with a firearm. She ran into a small room and took shelter with about 10 other people, including her children, she said.
“We were grateful,” the woman told KHOU. “She could have been worse.”
One TikTok livestream showed evacuated families and churchgoers wandering around a grassy courtyard near the church. Collective chatter, mostly in Spanish, filled the air, punctuated by the occasional screams of restless young children. At one point a group of women could be heard singing religious hymns.
