02:16
California church shooting motivated by hate against Taiwanese, police say
Suspected California church gunman is Taiwanese immigrant, Taipei official says
- The suspect – originally identified by US authorities as being from mainland China – has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder
- The gunman left notes in his vehicle concerning ‘his hatred of the Taiwanese people’, said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes
The information contradicted reports issued by law enforcement officials in California on Monday that the assailant was from mainland China.
The suspect in Sunday’s attack “had an absolute bias against the Taiwanese people, its country, as a Chinese or mainland national”, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said on Monday.
News of the shooting, which was initially framed as a matter of mainland Chinese anger directed against Taiwan – a self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory – trended on many US media outlets on Monday, just behind news of a deadlier shooting in Buffalo, New York.
‘Exceptional heroism’: Church-goers detain gunman in California shooting
A report issued on Monday by Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes called the California attack a “politically motivated hate incident” and said the suspect left notes in his vehicle related to “his hatred of the Taiwanese people”.
The suspect, David Chou, a 68-year-old living in Las Vegas, was not a regular attendee at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, Barnes said.
Chou finished his training as a reserve military officer before immigrating to the US, according to TVBS, which cited Louis Huang, director general of the Los Angeles branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.
A second Taiwanese official in Los Angeles said that Chou was born in Taiwan and currently holds a Taiwan passport. Barnes said Chou also has US citizenship.
When Chou arrived, he barred the doors and began shooting at people. He also placed four Molotov cocktail-like devices inside the church, Barnes said.
He was arrested and charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Authorities said the five injured victims – four men aged 66 to 92 and an 86-year-old woman – suffered gunshot wounds. Two were in good condition, two were in stable condition, and the fifth person’s status was undetermined, Orange County Fire Authority official Michael Contreras said.
The deceased victim, 52-year-old Dr John Cheng, was shot when he charged at the gunman and tried to disarm him. Authorities said that a pastor then hit the shooter on the head with a chair and parishioners used electrical cords to tie him up.
“Understanding that there was elderly everywhere and they couldn’t get out of the premises because the doors had been chained … he took it upon himself to charge across the room and to do everything he could to disable the assailant,” said Spitzer.
California shooting suspect confirmed as Taiwanese, not Chinese, by Taipei
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen condemned the shooting, while a lawmaker from her ruling party questioned whether Chinese propaganda was a motivating factor behind the violence.
Tsai’s office issued a statement on Tuesday saying she condemned “any form of violence”, extended her condolences to those killed and injured and had asked the island’s chief representative in the US to fly to California to provide assistance.
The shooting in California came on a weekend of deadly racist violence in America, just hours after an 18-year-old white man was charged with murdering 10 people and injuring three others at a grocery store in Buffalo. Eleven of the victims were black.
The gunman had written screeds against black Americans and immigrants before opening fire at a grocery store in an area with a large black population, authorities said.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
