1 dead, 5 wounded in church shooting

A gunman killed one person and seriously wounded five others at a church in Southern California on Sunday, authorities said, the second high-profile mass shooting to shake the country in just over 24 hours.

The attack happened during a lunch reception hosted by a Taiwanese congregation after a Sunday service at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, a small city in Orange County, church leaders and police said.

Authorities described the suspect as an Asian man in his 60s who does not live in the area. They took him into custody and said any possible motive in the shooting is unclear. Few details have surfaced about what happened inside the church, but first responders described a dramatic scene: After the shooter opened fire, police said, parishioners detained him, tied his legs with an extension cord and took his two handguns.

“By the time we arrived, the parishioners had the subject hogtied and in custody,” Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

There were 30 to 40 people inside, Hallock said, and all six victims were adults. Police released little information about the person killed and those injured, saying the investigation was in its early stages.