LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. (AP) – An armed man motivated by hatred of Taiwan, chained, closed the doors of a California church and hid incendiary bombs before firing on a gathering of mostly elderly Taiwanese parishioners, killing a man fighting him. , authorities said.
David Chow, a Las Vegas-based U.S. citizen who authorities say grew up in Taiwan, left for Orange County on Saturday and attended a luncheon the next day organized by Taiwan’s Irvine Presbyterian Church, which worships in Geneva. Presbyterian Church in the Lagoon Woods community. Although he did not know anyone there, he spent about an hour mingling with about 40 people and then carried out his plot, authorities told a news conference.
Shackle the doors and put super glue in the locks. He had two 9mm pistols – legally purchased years ago in Las Vegas – and three bags containing, among other things, four Molotov cocktail-type igniters and additional ammunition. He opened fire, and in the ensuing chaos, Dr. John Cheng, 52, collided with it, allowing other parishioners to conquer it and tie it with extension cords.
Cheng was killed and five people were injured, the oldest at 92. Sheriff Don Barnes called Cheng’s heroism a “meeting of good against evil” that probably saved the lives of “more than a dozen people.”
Chow was convicted of murder and attempted murder and jailed on $ 1 million bail. He was expected to appear in state court on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. A federal investigation into hate crimes is also ongoing.
Chow worked as a security guard in Las Vegas, authorities said.
There was no immediate information as to why Chow chose to go to Laguna Woods Church, a picturesque coastal area whose population consists mainly of retirees and is close to a large gated community.
Barnes said the motive for the shooting was Chow’s hatred of Taiwan, which is documented in handwritten notes identified by authorities. Chow’s family is apparently among the many forcibly deported from mainland China to Taiwan sometime after 1948, said Orange County Attorney Todd Spitzer.
Relations between the continent’s residents forced to flee the communist takeover and local Taiwanese have often been strained as newcomers flock to slums and military communities. Divided by language and lifestyle, harassment and confrontation were common, as President Chiang Kai-shek severely restricted civil liberties during nearly four decades of martial law.
The Presbyterian Church is the most prominent of the Christian dominions in Taiwan and is closely identified with the pro-democracy movement during the martial law era and later with the cause of Taiwan’s independence.
Barnes called Chow an immigrant from China, but Taiwan’s Central News Agency said it interviewed Luis M. Huang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Service in Los Angeles, and he confirmed that Chow was born in Taiwan in 1953.
Barnes said Chow acted alone and “is not considered to be affiliated with a particular church or religion, and has no direct connection to the church or any member of the church we know of.”
Balmore Orelana, a former neighbor, said Chow’s life was unraveling after his wife left him last year. Chow used to be a nice man who owned the apartment building in Las Vegas where he lived until he was evicted in February, Orelana told the Associated Press.
Records show that the four-unit property was sold last October for just over $ 500,000. Orelana said Chow’s wife used the money from the sale to move to Taiwan.
Before moving to Orellana about five years ago, Chow suffered head injuries and other serious injuries in a tenant attack, a neighbor said. His mental health had recently deteriorated, and a gun was fired at Chow’s apartment last summer and the bullet entered Orelana’s apartment, although no one was injured, Orelana said.
Police reports of the attack and shooting were not immediately available on Monday.
Tensions between China and Taiwan are at their highest in decades, with Beijing stepping up military harassment by sending fighters to the self-governing island. China does not rule out the power to unite with Taiwan, which seceded from the continent during the 1949 civil war.
Taiwan’s chief representative in the United States, Bi-Khim Xiao, offered his condolences to the families of those shot on Twitter.
“I join the families of the victims and Taiwan’s American communities in grief and pray for the speedy recovery of the survivors,” Xiao wrote on Sunday.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Penggu told the AP by email that the Chinese government “has consistently condemned incidents of violence.” We express our condolences to the victims and our sincere condolences to the families of the bereaved and injured. “
Among those shot were an 86-year-old woman and four men aged 66, 75, 82 and 92, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities said Monday that two of the injured were in good condition, two were in stable condition and the status of the fifth patient had not been determined.
Jerry Chen, a longtime member of the church, said a group of about 40 members gathered in the lunch room after the morning service to welcome their former pastor, Billy Chang, a beloved and respected member of the community who has served the church for 20 years. Chang returned to Taiwan two years ago. This was his first time returning to the state, Chen said.
Everyone had just finished lunch and were taking pictures with Chang when Chen entered the kitchen. Then he heard the shots.
Barnes said Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who survived his wife and two children, was charged with the shooter and tried to disarm him by allowing others to intervene. Chang hit the shooter on the head with a chair before other parishioners conquered him.
“I will tell you that the evil was in this church,” said Spitzer, who added that Chow was “absolutely biased” against Taiwan and its people.
The shooting came a day after an 18-year-old man shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in a racist villa, where a white gunman was targeted at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood.
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Associated Press reporters John Antchak of Los Angeles, Ken Ritter of Las Vegas and Ellen Nickmeyer in Washington contributed to the story. News researcher Rhonda Schaffner contributed from New York.
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Religious coverage of the Associated Press is supported by AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.
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