HOUSTON — Police officers surrounded Houston's Lakewood Church Sunday afternoon after a shooting inside the place of worship. Sheriff Troy Finner with the Houston Police Department said in a news conference that a woman around 30 to 35 years old entered the megachurch in a trench coat and armed with a long rifle. She had a small child with her.
When she opened fire, two off-duty officers working at the church shot and killed her. The 5-year-old boy with her was also shot and taken to a hospital in critical condition. A 57-year-old man was shot in the leg.
The megachurch, located about six miles southwest of downtown Houston, draws tens of thousands of people to its Sunday services each week.
Senior Pastor Joel Osteen said they're devastated by the shooting but also grateful it wasn't worse.
"You know, we don't understand why these things happen, but we know God's in control and we're gonna pray for that little 5-year-old boy and pray for the lady that was deceased, her family and all, and the other gentleman," Osteen said at a news conference. "We're gonna stay strong, we're gonna continue to move forward. There are forces of evil but the forces that are for us, the forces of God are stronger than that."
He said the shooting happened just before Lakewood's 2 p.m. Spanish service.
The church was evacuated and a reunification center was set up at a nearby Life Time Fitness for people to find their loved ones.
In a post on X, Lakewood asked for prayers for the church and the community.
"We're gonna keep going strong and just, you know, do what God's called us to do, lift people up and give hope to the world," Osteen said.
The history of Lakewood Church
Lakewood has 45,000 worshippers at each service and millions more in 100 countries worldwide tune in on television to hear Osteen's sermons, according to Lakewood's website.
When the church outgrew its previous home in 2003, Lakewood began leasing the former Compaq Center, once home to the Houston Rockets, from the City of Houston. In 2010, the church bought the property.
It's a long way from the converted feed store on the outskirts of Houston where Joel's father, John Osteen, started Lakewood in 1959. From the beginning, the non-denominational church attracted people from all walks of life.
As the church grew, the senior Osteen began hosting a weekly television program with wife Dodie that was seen worldwide. Joel served as a producer behind the scenes.
When John died unexpectedly in 1999, Joel took over as senior pastor and his prosperity gospel continued to attract new followers.
According to Lakewood's website, millions of people in the U.S. and around the world have also attended Joel and Victoria's Night of Hope events that sell out stadiums and arenas.
Lakewood is the largest megachurch in Texas and third largest in the U.S., according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.