Investigators say he carried a loaded revolver, more than 100 rounds and threats aimed at a pastor.
HOUSTON, Texas — A 23-year-old man has been charged with two felonies after church security tackled him during a March 15 service at Eden Church in downtown Houston, where investigators say he carried a loaded revolver, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and threats aimed at a pastor.
The case drew fresh attention this week as the charges became public and local outlets detailed what police say happened inside the church gathering at POST Houston. The immediate stakes are plain: investigators say a guard and church members stopped an armed man in a crowded worship service before he could fully draw his weapon. Police also say the suspect carried written threats on his phone and that his motive remains under investigation, leaving major questions about why he returned to the church and whether he had planned a wider attack.
According to court records described by Houston television stations, the episode unfolded on Sunday morning, March 15, at Eden Church, which meets inside POST Houston at 401 Franklin St. The church advertises three Sunday services at the downtown venue, with gatherings at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Investigators say a member of the church security team recognized Emmanuel Ahsono Mbwavi because of an earlier incident about two months before, when he had handed out what records described as concerning flyers and was asked to leave. That history put security on alert when he appeared again wearing a backpack. The guard later told police he saw Mbwavi follow a pastor into a bathroom area, walk in and out several times and then move back into the crowd. When another pastor approached him, the guard noticed the grip of a pistol in Mbwavi’s pocket. The guard told police he believed Mbwavi was about to harm people in the congregation, and he tackled him as the gun snagged on his pants.
Police say the revolver was a .22-caliber handgun loaded with six live rounds. Investigators also say they found more than 100 additional rounds in Mbwavi’s backpack after church members helped restrain him until officers arrived. Court records cited in local reporting say his cellphone contained a note about killing the pastor he had been following. ABC13 reported that documents also accuse Mbwavi of counting down on his phone during the struggle, which made the guard fear he might be trying to set off a bomb. In the same records, investigators say Mbwavi shouted, “I’m going to kill the pastor who is a fake prophet. I am a prophet called Warlock.” That statement, along with the note on the phone and the path police say he took through the service, has become central to the case. At the same time, police have said the motive is still under investigation, and public reporting so far has not filled in key gaps about Mbwavi’s relationship with the church, the pastor or the earlier flyer incident.
The setting adds to the weight of the case. Eden Church meets inside POST Houston, a large downtown complex in the former Barbara Jordan Post Office building that hosts offices, events, food vendors and public gatherings. The church’s own listings promote weekly services there and a children’s program, placing the March 15 encounter in a busy, family-oriented space rather than a small private room. The incident also lands in a city and a state with a recent history of violence and fear tied to houses of worship. In February 2024, a woman opened fire at Houston’s Lakewood Church before two off-duty officers working security shot and killed her. That attack wounded a child and another man and renewed debate over how churches protect worshippers. Texas also continues to live with the memory of the 2017 massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where 26 people were killed. Those earlier attacks did not involve Eden Church, but they form part of the public backdrop for why an armed suspect inside a service in downtown Houston immediately became more than a routine arrest report.
Mbwavi now faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Harris County court records described in local reports. That charging decision means prosecutors are treating the episode as an alleged threat against other people inside the service, not simply a weapons possession case. The public narrative so far rests on witness statements, the firearm and ammunition recovered at the scene, and the material investigators say they found on the suspect’s phone. Local follow-up reporting has said the investigation remains active, and police have not yet offered a fuller public explanation of what led Mbwavi back to the church after he had previously been removed. They also have not publicly laid out a detailed timeline of his movements before he arrived at POST Houston that morning. In the near term, the case will move through Harris County criminal court, where prosecutors will have to formalize the allegations, defense lawyers will have a chance to challenge them and any additional evidence from surveillance video or phone records could become more important.
The physical scene described in the records is striking partly because of how quickly it turned. One moment, church security was watching a man who had raised concerns before. The next, a pastor was speaking with him and a guard says he saw a hand move toward a concealed gun. Church members then joined the struggle on the floor and held Mbwavi until officers arrived, according to the records. Eden Church has said it is cooperating with investigators. Outside that congregation, the case has already rippled through other ministries that rely on volunteer teams or paid security on Sundays. Kirk Blackim, a volunteer head of security at another Houston-area church, said the report was “really scary” because worship services gather people in a setting built around openness rather than screening and suspicion. He said the episode was the kind of case that security teams share with one another so they can recognize warning signs earlier. For Eden Church, the event has also left a public record of just how close a routine morning service can come to something far worse.
As of Wednesday, Mbwavi remained charged in Harris County with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police had not announced a fuller motive, any additional charges or a public court timetable in the reports available Wednesday, leaving the case focused on the evidence investigators say they recovered and the guard’s split-second intervention.
Author note: Last updated April 8, 2026.