Houston- Adult, child injured in shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood church

[IceIce9]

A woman in a trench coat armed with a long rifle – and accompanied by a young child – entered pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church on Sunday afternoon and began firing, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.

Two off-duty law enforcement officers – a Houston police officer and an agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission – engaged and struck the woman, who died on the scene, Finner said. The woman was roughly 30-35 years old, the chief said.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/11/us/joel-osteens-lakewood-church-shooting

 

[IceIce9]

A boy was critically injured on Sunday afternoon after a woman opened fire at a Christian megachurch in Houston led by Joel Osteen, the televangelist and pastor, the authorities said.

At just before 2 p.m., the woman, holding a rifle, wearing a trench coat and carrying a backpack, entered Lakewood Church, among the largest congregations in the United States. She came with a boy of about 4 or 5 years old, Chief Troy Finner of the Houston Police Department said at a news conference on Sunday.

Boy Is Critically Wounded in Shooting at Houston Church Led by Joel Osteen

A woman entered the Lakewood Church, a megachurch in Houston, with a rifle and opened fire, officials said. Off-duty officers shot and killed her.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Clearsky]

Woman firing long gun in Joel Osteen's church killed by 2 off-duty officers; young boy with her hurt

Police say a woman in a trenchcoat opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Texas megachurch before being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her

abcnews.go.com

HOUSTON -- A woman in a trenchcoat opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Texas before being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her, sending worshippers rushing from the building between busy Sunday services, authorities said.

 

[caradana]

I worked for years in the building directly next to this, the one with the black/gray mirrored panels you can see in the background of the photos. That was a really good police response - they hit every entrance and exit easily and that’s a complicated site.

 

[MAHBOOBOO]

Yeah this is just crazy. A WOMAN in the prime of her life wearing a trench coat with and bringing a child. If mass murder was her motive, would this be the first woman mass shooter we've had?

And yeah - HPD's response really impressed me too. Add to that a likely language barrier with this being the Spanish speaking service, and organizing a reunification center so quickly.

 

[IceIce9]

There were armed police officers on duty inside the church at the time of shooting. Is that standard practice?

 

[caradana]

There were armed police officers on duty inside the church at the time of shooting. Is that standard practice?

Off-duty PD making excellent freelance money and simultaneously attending. Normally this is among the happiest side gigs in Houston. Not today.

 

[Simply Southern]

There were armed police officers on duty inside the church at the time of shooting. Is that standard practice?

Many LE work off duty hours at private businesses/venues. Yes, Churches employ or have volunteer off duty officers. MOO

"Two off-duty law enforcement officers who were working at the church on Sunday shot and killed the woman after she opened fire, Chief Finner said."

Boy Is Critically Wounded in Shooting at Houston Church Led by Joel Osteen

A woman entered the Lakewood Church, a megachurch in Houston, with a rifle and opened fire, officials said. Off-duty officers shot and killed her.

www.nytimes.com

 

[vls12345]

I know megachurches in my area hire off-duty LE to help conduct traffic at a minimum. I think churches in general also took notice after the mass church shooting in Southerland Springs (TX) in 2017 & quite a few probably upped their LE presence on the property.

 

[vls12345]

https://www.chron.com/news/article/houston-lakewood-church-shooting-18661841.php

UPDATE: 6:45 p.m. CT
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a statement concerning the shooting at Lakewood Church on Sunday. Hidalgo raised the possibility of the shooting being investigated as a hate crime, and intimated that the child accompanying the shooter has sustained "terrible injuries."
[snip]
"...I will not make any assumptions because information continues to come in as to what motivated the shooter, but I am asking that the investigation look into whether [the shooting] was a hate crime, given the shooting took place at an all-Spanish service."

and

UPDATE: 4:50 p.m. CT
[snip]
The woman was downed by two off-duty officers working at the church. One was a veteran Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officer, the other a 28-year-old HPD officer. After being shot, the woman told authorities she had a bomb, Finner told media. Subsequent searches of her person and vehicle have not yielded explosives, authorities said. The woman was also said to have sprayed some material on the ground before dying, according to Finner.

 

[LadyL]

those poor kids are permanently traumatized

 

[Knox]

There were armed police officers on duty inside the church at the time of shooting. Is that standard practice?

Lakewood Church is the third largest in the US, not surprising to me. Our own small local Church in CA has two armed members in every service. These days - Failure to plan, is planning to fail - even in a Church setting, JMO.

10 Easy Ways to Create a Safer Church This Sunday

Learn ten quick and meaningful changes you can make before your next worship service. Best of all, these action steps are free or inexpensive.

www.brotherhoodmutual.com

 

[Knox]

https://www.chron.com/news/article/houston-lakewood-church-shooting-18661841.php

and

Wow, her last moments were I have a bomb and she sprayed material on the ground?

Here's what Osteen had to say ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1756817400094237112

 

[ifindedout]

Thinking the boy might be her son, I wonder if this will turn out to be custody-related.

 

[IceIce9]

Thinking the boy might be her son, I wonder if this will turn out to be custody-related.

DBM

 

[concernedmother]

Why on earth would she bring her child or any child along knowing what she was going to do?

 

[airportwoman]

Off-duty PD making excellent freelance money and simultaneously attending. Normally this is among the happiest side gigs in Houston. Not today.

This is something security guards who are competent hope they never have to do, and in this case, shot an innocent child.

 

[MAHBOOBOO]

Grizzy's live streaming from the suspects house right now where the FBI and other LE are.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

Yeah this is just crazy. A WOMAN in the prime of her life wearing a trench coat with and bringing a child. If mass murder was her motive, would this be the first woman mass shooter we've had?

And yeah - HPD's response really impressed me too. Add to that a likely language barrier with this being the Spanish speaking service, and organizing a reunification center so quickly.

No, we've had Audrey Hale, Brenda Spencer, Jennifer San Marco, Amy Bishop, Tashfeen Malik, Nasim Aghdan, and Latina Williams. Per Rare breed: Audrey Hale takes infamous spot as 7th female mass shooter in US history

 

[Gardenista]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/us/joel-osteen-lakewood-church-shooting-monday/index.html

The shooter used an AR-15 that had “Free Palestine” written on it, according to a federal law enforcement source. Investigators are trying to sort out whether she was politically motivated or a disturbed individual, the source said.