Sheriff: Taiwan motive for attack
Man, 68, accused in church shooting due in court today
LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. — A man accused in a deadly attack at a Southern California church was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hatred for Taiwanese people, authorities said.
In the shooting, Dr. John Cheng, 52, was killed and five others were wounded during a lunch held by Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which worships at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, authorities said at a Monday news conference.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said the motive of the shooting was a grievance between the suspect, identified as a Chinese immigrant and U.S. citizen, and the Taiwanese community. China claims Taiwan is a part of its national territory and has not ruled out force to bring the island under its rule.
The suspect was identified as David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas. He has been booked on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder and is be- ing held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Chou is expected to appear in state court today and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney. A federal hate crimes investigation is also ongoing.
Chou’s family was among many that were apparently forcibly removed from China to Taiwan sometime after 1948, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. Chou’s hatred toward the island, documented in handwritten notes that authorities found, seems to have begun when he felt he wasn’t treated well while living there.
Barnes, the sheriff, said Chou drove from Las Vegas to the Orange County church, where he was not a regular attendee, secured the doors with chains, super glue and nails and started shooting. The gunman had placed four Molotov cocktail-like devices inside the church.
Barnes said Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who is survived by a wife and two children, heroically charged at the shooter and attempted to disarm him, allowing others to intervene. Cheng probably saved the lives “of upwards of dozens of people,” the sheriff said.
A pastor hit the gunman on the head with a chair and parishioners hog-tied him with electrical cords.
A former neighbor, meanwhile, says Chou’s life unraveled after he was nearly beaten to death several years ago.
Chou had been a pleasant man who used to own the Las Vegas apartment building where he lived, Balmore Orellana told The Associated Press.
But Orellana said Chou received a head injury and serious body injuries in an attack by a tenant and he sold the property. The neighbor said that last summer Chou fired a gun inside his apartment. No one was hurt but he was evicted.
Orellana says Chou’s mental ability seemed to diminish in recent months, he was angry that the government didn’t provide comfort in his retirement, and he may have been homeless.
Four of the five people wounded suffered critical gunshot injuries. Authorities on Monday said two of the wounded were in good condition, two were in stable condition and the status of the fifth patient was undetermined.
Church member Jerry Chen said a group of about 40 congregants had gathered in the fellowship hall for a luncheon after a morning service, to welcome former Pastor Billy Chang, who had served the church for 20 years. Chang moved back to Taiwan two years ago, and this was his first time back stateside, Chen said.
Everyone had just finished lunch and they were taking photos with Chang when Chen went into the kitchen, he said. That’s when he heard the gunshots. People told him afterward that the gunman had stopped to reload when Chang hit him on the head with the chair.
“This is just so sad,” Chen said. “I never, ever thought something like this would happen in my church, in my community.”
Taiwan’s chief representative in the U.S., Bi-khim Hsiao, offered condolences to the families on Twitter.
“I join the families of the victims and Taiwanese American communities in grief and pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded survivors,” Hsiao wrote on Sunday.