In November 2018, an accidental fire in Harris County, Texas, disclosed a shocking fact that there was an underground illegal game room operating under a church. Not surprisingly, this discovery drew a lot of attention of the public and the police and everyone who likes to play the game.

Initial police statements

Immediately after the news had reached the public, local television stations requested a police statement. According to the statement, the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring and the firefighters found some people trapped in a room with more than 100 gambling machines. Thomas Gilliland, a representative of Harris County Sheriff’s Office, explained that the room was part of a gambling business registered at the same address as the church but was not sure whether it was leased to anyone. The police did not provide much information about who was responsible for building an illegal game room on the grounds of the church but they stated that there were a few potential suspects.

Who ran a casino under a church?

Obviously, the public was impatient to find out who was responsible for this sacrilege. The pastor of the church stated that the church had absolutely nothing to do with the unexpected discovery. Pastor Anthony Scott, the head of the congregation at the World of Life Church, told the reporters that this part of the land that was owned by the church had been leased to someone else as the church had had financial difficulties. He stated that the church didn’t have any information about what was happening in this part of the building.

The investigation is still in progress but if it turns out that the church was related to the gambling business it wouldn’t be the first time a religious leader was involved in gambling.

Questions to be answered

The local community has been concerned about this incident for a long time and there are numerous questions that need to be answered. 

A church’s land is certainly an area that is least expected to be related to illegal activities, causing a lot of worry as to what other areas could be linked with criminal activities. 

Another issue is the fact that someone had to bring such a huge number of gambling machines to a church and install them without anyone noticing. Furthermore, there were some people trapped in the room so the entrance to the room must have been well hidden since a lot of people were able to enter the room without being seen. On the other hand, the firefighters had no trouble finding the room while putting out the fire.

The local community certainly hopes that those responsible for this illegal activity will soon be brought to justice.