A man and a young child were injured in a shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday, police said. Said.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that just before 2:30 p.m. local time, a woman wearing a trench coat and carrying a long gun entered the church with a young child in tow.
Finner said the woman was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer inside the church shortly after. A 5-year-old child and a 56-year-old man were shot and injured. The child is in critical condition, Finner said.
The suspect also claimed to have a bomb, but police said no explosives were found on her body or in her car, and the church complex was being searched.
The shooting occurred between two services at Lakewood, one of the largest megachurches in the country.
“It’s unfortunate,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference, “that we are here together to respond to this tragedy on a day when we would have loved to have attended church and watched the No. 1 sporting event in the nation.” “I’m working on it,” he said.
“Our hearts go out to those affected by today’s tragic mass shooting and to the entire Lakewood Church community in Houston,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in a statement. “Places of worship are sacred.”
The governor added that he is in contact with local and state officials to “support this community and help bring speedy justice to the criminals who committed this heinous act.”
Updated at 6:08 p.m.
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