A woman armed with a long gun took her young son to Joel Osteen’s Houston-area megachurch on Sunday and opened fire, leading to her being shot to death by police officers and the child suffering critical gunshot wounds.
The woman, dressed in a trench coat and carrying a backpack, burst into Osteen’s Lakewood Church just before 2 p.m. with the boy, about 4 or 5 years old, and began shooting before two law enforcement officers off-duty she was shot to death, Houston’s police chief said. Troy Finner said at a news conference on Sunday.
The young man was shot and seriously injured, although it is not clear with what weapon. He was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital, where he remains in critical condition, authorities said.
A 57-year-old man, described as a bystander, was shot in the leg and taken to a local hospital in stable condition, Finner said.
The shooter, believed to be between 30 and 35 years old, also claimed to have a bomb and sprayed an unknown substance on the ground before being shot to death, the chief said. However, authorities conducted a sweep of the area and found no explosives on his person or in his car.
The shooting began between services, before a Spanish mass was scheduled, Osteen said at the news conference, adding that the shooting could have been much worse. The megachurch has an average attendance of 45,000 people.
“I could only imagine what I could only imagine if it had happened during the 11 o’clock service,” he said at the scene.
The pastor said he felt like he was “a little confused” after the shooting.
Harris County sheriff’s deputies reportedly shot a “possible shooter” who may have had a bomb strapped to his chest outside Joel Olsteen’s church in the Houston area. google maps
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez was en route to the scene but said Houston police would inform the public. X/@SheriffEd_HCSO
“But we’re going to swerve hard, we’re going to keep moving forward,” Osteen said. “There are forces of evil but the forces that are for us, the forces of God, are stronger than that.”
A witness told ABC 13 that he heard gunshots from the choir room, causing panic among parishioners.
“The whole church began to pray and declare the name of Jesus,” he said. “I thought, ‘This might be the last time I can pray, that I can glorify the name of Jesus, so I’m going to do this.’”
Another parishioner told the local station that he heard between 20 and 30 gunshots as he ran outside with his three young daughters. Authorities could not immediately confirm how many shots were fired.
Houston police have asked the public to stay away from the area, which is about six miles from downtown Houston.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn