Two people, including a five-year-old boy, were wounded by a woman who opened fire before shooting dead at the huge Texas church of well-known pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen, AFP and Reuters reported, citing Agerpres. .

Lakewood Church by Pastor Joel OsteenPhoto: Scott Coleman / Zuma Press / Profimedia Images

Armed with a rifle and accompanied by a child, the attacker entered the church, a former 16,800-seat sports complex, around 2:00 p.m. (20:00 GMT), Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference.

The woman started shooting, but off-duty police officers quickly responded and killed her, he added. A five-year-old child is in a “serious condition” in the hospital, and a man in his fifties was wounded in the leg, the police chief continued.

The attack happened between two religious services, just before the start of the Spanish-language service, said Austin, a 60-year-old pastor whose live sermons are watched by millions every week.

Austin said he was “horrified” by the gun attack. “I can’t imagine if this would have happened during the 11:00 a.m. service,” he told a news conference, adding that he would pray for the victims and the attackers.

In October, the United States recorded one of the bloodiest armed attacks in recent years

The United States has the highest gun death rate of any developed country, with more guns than people. Gun attacks are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far been powerless to stop, and many Americans remain very attached to their guns.

Despite repeatedly promising to do more to strengthen gun laws, President Joe Biden has been handcuffed by the pro-gun GOP majority in the House of Representatives and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices.

The issue of gun violence and the right to bear arms enshrined in the United States Constitution is likely to be one of the hotly debated topics during the upcoming presidential and legislative elections. this year.

Last October, at least 18 people were killed and dozens were injured in two gun attacks in the northeastern US state of Maine. It was the bloodiest attack of its kind on American soil in recent years.

That attack was carried out by Robert Card, a man trained as a weapons instructor. He committed the attack after spending two weeks in a psychiatric hospital last summer.