Houston:
Two people, including a five-year-old boy, were injured after a woman opened fire at famed American pastor Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston, Texas, one of the largest religious sites in the United States, police said Sunday.
The woman was armed with a long gun when she entered the non-denominational Christian church with a child just before 2 p.m. (2000 GMT), Houston police chief Troy Finner told a news conference.
When she arrived at the church, housed in a converted former sports arena that seats about 16,800 people, she started shooting, Finner said — but off-duty police officers working security at the site quickly returned fire and she was killed.
A “five-year-old child was hit and is in critical condition at our local hospital,” Finner said, while a man in his 50s “who I believe had nothing to do with it” is being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg.
“When I entered the shelter, I saw people running and saying, they are shooting, they are shooting, and we could hear gunshots,” a witness told local television station KHOU.
“We tried to open some doors in the hallway, but they were locked. Some people went outside to go to their cars, but others, like me, didn't know where to go.”
A church volunteer hid them in the bathroom, stacked furniture against the doors and warned them not to move, she said.
“There were children on the third and fourth floors, the parents were worried about the children. We put things in God's hands,” she added.
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where there are more guns than people and about a third of adults own a firearm.
Polls show a majority of Americans support stricter gun regulations, but the powerful gun lobby and mobilized voters who support the country's culture of strong gun rights have repeatedly prevented lawmakers from taking action.
Osteen, whose services are broadcast live to millions of people every week and who has largely tried to keep his church apolitical, said he was “devastated” by the attack and described himself as “a little bit in a fog.”
The shooting started between services, just before the start of a Spanish-language service, the 60-year-old said, adding: “I can only imagine it would have happened during the 11 a.m. service…we thank God for that .”
“We don't understand why these things happen, but we know that God is in control… There are forces of evil, but the forces that are for us, the forces of God, are stronger than that,” he said at a press conference. adding that he would pray for the victims as well as the shooter.
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