Woman accompanied by young child opens fire at Texas megachurch
Police stand outside Lakewood Church, where a gunwoman’s weapon reportedly had the words ‘Free Palestine’ on it. AP
A woman carrying an AR-15 rifle and accompanied by a young child opened fire at a megachurch in Houston, Texas, before being killed by off-duty police officers.
Her weapon had “Free Palestine” written on it to carry out the shooting on Sunday, CNN reported, citing a federal law enforcement source.
The five-year-old child who arrived with the woman and a man in his 50s were injured in the attack. The child is in a critical condition.
The incident occurred at Lakewood Church, which has the capacity for about 17,000 worshippers and is led by famous televangelist Joel Osteen.
The woman, estimated to be between 30 and 35, entered the church shortly before 2pm during the Spanish-language service wearing a trench coat and backpack, Houston Police chief Troy Finner said.
Two off-duty police officers providing security during the service shot the woman.
After she was shot, the woman told police she had a bomb but authorities said no explosives were found when her vehicle and backpack were searched, the Associated Press reported.
Chief Finner said she had been seen spraying “some type of substance on the ground”.
Emergency workers continued to search the megachurch for hours afterwards.
Investigators are trying to determine whether the shooting was politically motivated, the law enforcement source told CNN.
Police have not shared details of the woman’s motive or her relationship to the child. It is also unknown who fired the shots that injured the child.
“I will say this: that female, that suspect, put that baby in danger,” Chief Finner said. “I’m going to put that blame on her.”
He added the violence “could have been a lot worse” had the two off-duty officers not intervened.
About 45,000 people a week attend services at Lakewood Church, making it the third largest church in the country.
Mr Osteen said his congregation was “devastated” and he would pray for the victims, their families and for the woman who carried out the shooting.
“We’re going to stay strong and we’re going to continue to move forward,” he said.