BY   :  Christian Post  Staff,  

A 33-year-old man accused of threatening to release deadly sarin gas during a Christmas Eve service at a Houston megachurch is facing a felony charge.

Houston Police Department officers were dispatched to Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church around 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve after the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Aaron Suppes, called in the threat, according to police.

Suppes claimed he was planning to release sarin gas — an extremely toxic chemical weapon — at the church during the crowded candlelight service, police said.

The church, located off the Southwest Freeway in Houston, was packed with over 5,000 people at the time of the threat, a local CBS affiliate reported. Services continued uninterrupted as police reviewed security footage and determined there was no immediate threat.

Authorities also found duffel bags that Suppes brought to the church and left near the front entrance, according to the report. A bomb squad, along with a Houston Fire Department hazmat team, thoroughly inspected the bags for any explosive devices, but no threats were identified.

Police say investigators later learned that the suspect had placed another strange call earlier that same day in which Suppes reportedly told 911 dispatchers that he and his sister were being “microwaved from overseas,” leading investigators to suspect Suppes’ mental health was a factor.

Court documents identified Suppes as unemployed and homeless for at least six months, according to WLTX.

Using security cameras and information gathered from the investigation, police tracked down Suppes, who was still in the vicinity of Lakewood Church. He was arrested without incident and later transported to jail.

During a court appearance on Christmas Day, Suppes was formally charged with a felony offense of making a terroristic threat. His bond was set at $15,000.

While the threat was later determined to be a hoax, the incident has raised concerns about security and safety at the megachurch in light of another incident at Lakewood in February, where an armed woman wounded two people before she was killed by off-duty officers.

During Sunday service on Feb. 11, a woman accompanied by a child and carrying a long rifle entered the church before she was shot and killed by off-duty police officers. The child, identified as a 7-year-old boy, was critically injured in the shooting, while a 57-year-old bystander was shot in the leg.

Described as wearing a trench coat and backpack, the woman was later identified as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, who police say also used the male name Jeffrey Escalante but identified as female.

“Our shooter is identified by a driver’s license as Genesee Moreno 36 years old, Hispanic female. There are some discrepancies,” HPD’s Commander of Homicide Christopher Hassig said at a press conference. “We do have reports she used multiple aliases, including Jeffrey Escalante. So she has utilized both male and female names but through all of our investigation to this point, talking with individuals, interviews, documents, Houston Police Department reports, she has been identified this entire time as female.”

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner later announced that it was two off-duty officers — a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent and a Houston Police Department officer — who shot and killed Moreno.

Two weapons were recovered from the scene, including a .22 caliber rifle, which was not used in the shooting, and an AR-15 with a “Palestine” sticker, which Moreno fired at the officers.

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