Texas Man Arrested After Confrontation at Church

A man from Texas, identified as Emmanuel Asono Mbwabi, 23, has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault after an incident at a church in Houston. Authorities reported that he was equipped with a loaded gun and over 100 rounds of ammunition.

This incident occurred on March 15 at Eden Church, where a Sunday service was taking place at the Post Entertainment Center in downtown Houston. Police say that a member of the church’s security team recognized Mbwabi. In fact, he had previously been asked to leave the church about two months earlier for distributing “concerning” flyers.

Given the previous encounter, the church’s pastor requested heightened security measures to monitor Mbwabi’s presence.

A security guard reported seeing Mbwabi following the pastor into a bathroom multiple times before reappearing in the crowd, a behavior that certainly raised alarms.

Another pastor approached him for a conversation, during which a security guard noticed the unmistakable outline of a handgun in Mbwabi’s pocket. This further heightened concerns for the safety of everyone present.

When a security guard observed Mbwabi reach for his weapon, he intervened, suspecting that Mbwabi intended to harm both security personnel and churchgoers. At the time, he was reportedly counting down on his mobile phone, leading security to believe he might have been preparing for a detonation.

Members of the security team, along with church attendees, quickly helped in restraining Mbwabi. Allegedly, as he fell to the ground, he shouted threats such as “I’m going to kill you” and claimed to be a warlock, denouncing the pastor as a false prophet.

Upon investigation, it was found that Mbwabi had a .22 caliber revolver with six live rounds and over 100 extra rounds stashed in his backpack. Additionally, his mobile phone was discovered to have a notes application open, containing disturbing writings focused on the church pastor.