Shooter Carrying AR-15 Emblazoned with ‘Palestine’ Shoots up Joel Osteen’s Megachurch
A woman carrying an AR-15 that had “Palestine” written on it started shooting at the megachurch of celebrity pastor Joel Osteen in Houston on Sunday, February 11, injuring one man before she was shot and killed by two off-duty officers working as security, police said.
A young child with the woman was critically hurt in the shooting and another man nearby was also wounded. Donna Hansen, chief of the felony division at the district attorney’s office, said on Monday the child was not expected to survive.
The shooter, who was reported to be between 30 and 35 years old, entered the Lakewood Church — which is attended by 45,000 people weekly — at roughly 2 p.m. in a trench coat when she opened fire, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.
The off-duty officers were a 28-year-old Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. “I want to commend those officers. She had a long gun and it could have been a lot worse,” Finner declared. “But they stepped up and they did their job, and I want to thank them for that.”
The shooter, who had a backpack, threatened that she had a bomb, though law enforcement found no explosives either in her backpack or her vehicle. She also sprayed “some type of substance on the ground,” Finner said. (DW / VFI News)
“Lord, we pray that You heal the people who were injured during the terrorist attack and take especially good care of the young child who was critically wounded. We ask for an end to all organized and individual acts of terror and revenge, so that all innocent civilians, regardless of their ethnicity, race, country of residence, or religion, can be safe and enjoy the lives You have given them.”