HOUSTON (AP) – A woman wearing a trench coat opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen's megachurch in Texas, killing two off-duty police officers who confronted him, interrupting a busy Sunday service. Worshipers poured out of the building during the break, authorities said. Said.
A woman entered a Houston church with a 5-year-old boy just before 2 p.m., and the boy was shot and seriously injured. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said it was unclear whether the child was shot by an off-duty officer. He said a 57-year-old man was also shot and injured.
The child was taken to a children's hospital in critical condition, while the man was in stable condition at another hospital with a wound to his hip.
Finner said both officers “engaged” the woman after she began firing, and she died. He did not provide immediate details about how the conflict unfolded, but said that unfortunately “a 5-year-old child was hit.”
He praised the officers for quickly confronting the woman, adding: “She had a long gun and it could have been a lot worse.”
The identity of the slain woman was not immediately known, and a motive was not clear.
The shooting occurred between services at the megachurch, the third-largest megachurch in the United States, which regularly draws 45,000 people each week, according to the Hartford Institute of Religion. Osteen's televised sermons have reached approximately 100 countries.
It was not clear where Osteen was at the time. But at a subsequent press conference, he called the police and said the church was “in a state of destruction.” He added that the situation could have been much worse had the shooting occurred during a mass prayer service at 11 a.m. He added that he prays for the victims, the woman who did the shooting, and her family.
“We're going to stay strong and continue to move forward,” Osteen said after the officials' meeting. “The power of evil exists, but the power for us, the power of God, is greater. So we will continue to be strong and righteous and do what God has commanded us to do. So I'm going to keep doing things that uplift people and give hope to the world.”
Witnesses told reporters they heard multiple gunshots just before the 2 p.m. Spanish service at the church began.
“I started screaming, 'There's a gunman, there's a gunman,'” Christina Rodriguez, who was inside the church, told Houston television station KTRK. She then said she and the others ran to the back of the library inside the church and stood there. She climbed the stairs before being told she was safe.
Alan Guity, a longtime church member whose family is from Honduras and whose mother works as an usher, said he was resting in the church sanctuary before the 2 p.m. service when he heard gunshots.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom, and I screamed, 'Mommy,'” he said.
The 35-year-old man ran to his mother and they both lay on the floor praying as gunshots continued. They remained there for about five minutes until someone told them it was safe to evacuate. Guiti said he and his mother worshiped outside and tried to calm people down by singing “Move in me, move in me” in Spanish. Please touch my heart and mind. Please move the Holy Spirit within me. ”
Guiti was one of many worshipers waiting to get back to their cars Sunday night as police continued to search the building. This church is located in the former arena where the NBA's Houston Rockets played many years ago.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a separate statement saying, “Our hearts are with those affected by today's tragic mass shooting and the entire Lakewood Church community in Houston. Our place of worship is It is sacred.”
At least 20 police and fire trucks, including a fire department hazardous materials vehicle, were stationed near one of the church's entrances Sunday afternoon. Finner said it was reported that the woman had a bomb, but when she searched her car and backpack, she found no explosives.
Congregants were seen leaving the building as authorities evacuated the church ahead of the press conference. Officials announced that a reunification center had been set up at a nearby gym for people to find loved ones.
The church has grown significantly over the past 25 years, attracting millions of believers since Joel Osteen took over after his father's death in 1999 and introduced an upbeat style of Christian televangelism. The elder Osteen founded this church in his 1959 converted feed store.
Lakewood Church sometimes functioned as a shelter during the Houston floods. After the pandemic, resumed At one time, it was at one-quarter of its capacity, allowing only 4,000 worshipers.
