The man who opened fire at a church in California on Sunday, killing one and wounding five, is a 68-year-old Chinese-American who loathed the Taiwanese community, police said Monday. The six shot victims who were attending a banquet at this church in Laguna Woods after morning services when the gunman opened fire were from Taiwan.
The shooter was subdued by the pastor and worshipers as he was reloading his gun and was identified by police as 68-year-old David Chou. According to Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, the man is a Chinese-American national who resided in the United States “for many years” and was employed as a security guard in the Las Vegas area. The 60-year-old, who had prepared his attack and was equipped with spare magazines and Molotov cocktails, acted for “political and hate-motivated” reasons, the sheriff said at a press conference.
Mastered by community members
Citing “notes” discovered by investigators in the suspect’s car, he recounted “grievances this person had with the Taiwanese community as a whole,” without showing at the time that he had any specific ties to it church or targeted certain people. “From what we found, we believe he specifically targeted the Taiwanese church and this Taiwanese Presbyterian Church is a representation of that church,” he explained.
The man killed by the suspect was a 52-year-old doctor, John Cheng, who died after charging the attacker to disarm him and allowing time for other community members to neutralize him, including tying him up with an extension cord. Sheriff Barnes called Dr. Chen a “hero” without whom “there would undoubtedly have been more victims.” The suspect was taken into custody on $1 million bail.
Political and diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Taipei are high: the communist regime regards the island of Taiwan as one of its provinces, destined to return to its bosom by force if necessary.