Troy Finner said it was not clear whether the five-year-old boy was struck by the officers who returned fire after the woman, wearing a trenchcoat, entered Osteen’s Lakewood church with the boy shortly before 2pm and began shooting.
A 57-year-old man was also shot and wounded, the police chief said. The child was in critical condition at a children’s hospital while the man was stable at a different hospital with a hip wound.
Houston’s channel3now.com reported the woman entered the church claiming to have a bomb, but Finner said later that no explosives were found when her vehicle and backpack were searched.
A second adult – a man – carrying a rifle was later evading authorities in the vicinity of restaurants near the church, Channel 3 Now reported.
Finner said that after the woman began shooting, both off-duty officers “engaged” her and the woman was killed. He said that unfortunately “a five-year-old kid was hit”, although he released no immediate details on how the confrontation unfolded.
He praised the officers for quickly confronting the woman, adding, “She had a long gun, and it could have been a lot worse.”
The shooting happened between services at the megachurch, which is the third-largest in the US according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Osteen’s televised sermons reach about 100 countries.
MNA/PR
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