Woman with rifle shot dead at celebrity pastor's megachurch - with child injured
A woman with a rifle has been shot dead at a megachurch with a 5-year-old child critically injured and another man shot in the leg.
The police have revealed that a young child, age 5, was shot outside a church in Houston, Texas, owned by Joel Osteen as they also confirmed the female shooter has been killed. Another man, 57, was shot in the leg, confirmed Houston Police Chief Troy Finner.
Both were taken to the hospital, where the child is in critical condition and the older man is being treated for his injuries, the severity of which are unknown.
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Several ambulances reported to the scene after the shooting took placeThe shooting took place at Lakewood Church at around 2pm local time on Sunday, right when a Spanish-language service was scheduled. The attendees from the English-language service, which reportedly got out at 12:45pm, were all out of the building.
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Finner also said during the press conference that the woman threatened police after they took her down, stating that she had a bomb. Sweeps were done of the area, including her car, but no explosives were found. The investigation continues.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez took to Twitter just after the incident occurred to report that it had, in fact, taken place and that his deputies on the scene, who were off-duty working security at the megachurch, had handled the situation.
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One older man was shot in the leg, it was revealed"Receiving initial reports of possible shots fired at/or around Lakewood Church, 3700 blk of Southwest Freeway. We have @HCSOTexas deputies that work an extra-job there. Info still preliminary," he wrote, then later added: "Info remains preliminary, as things remain dynamic. It is believed that a possible shooter is down, shot by one of our deputy’s on-scene. I’m enroute to the scene."
He then confirmed that "multiple agencies," including deputies, police officers and other agencies who responded to the scene fired shots at the scene, but information is still being confirmed as the authorities investigate the scene. It falls within the jurisdiction of the Houston Police Department, Gonzalez said.
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Mass chaos ensued after the shooting, which occurred at a church that serves tens of thousands of people every weekLakewood Church is one of a few megachurches owned by controversial pastor Joel Osteen, who occasionally leads services there. It serves about 45,000 people every week at its multiple services in several languages.
Further information about the scene and what's going down at the church remain unclear, such as the condition of the child and whether anyone else was shot. Nothing is yet known about the shooter, either, aside from what has been reported and the fact that she appeared to be between 30 and 35 years old.
It is believed to be an isolated incident, and Finner said that there is no longer any threat posed to the community, that everything is now under control even as the investigation continues.
The authorities said more information would become available as it is confirmed and told everyone in the community to stay strong, that they would get through the tragedy. A reunification area was set up for family members near the LIFE TIME Fitness at 1 Healthy Way in the Greenway Plaza area, click2houston reported.
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