Suspect upset over tensions between China, Taiwan

LAGUNA WOODS • The man accused of killing a doctor and wounding five other people in a shooting at a Taiwanese-American church banquet in California methodically planned the attack because he was upset over Chinese-Taiwanese tensions, the authorities said.

The suspect, David Chou, 68, chained the doors and placed glue in the locks at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, about 72km south-east of Los Angeles, before opening fire inside the church on Sunday, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said on Monday.

Up to 40 people, members of a Taiwanese Presbyterian congregation from nearby Irvine, California, were attending a luncheon honouring a former local pastor when the shooting began, sheriff's officials said.

Chou, described by the sheriff as a US citizen and Las Vegas resident born in China, drove to Southern California last Saturday and came to the church on Sunday morning, the authorities said.

After the shooting, investigators found three bags placed around the church building with various items, including ammunition and four Molotov cocktail-like devices. The FBI said it was opening a hate crimes investigation.

The sheriff's department issued a statement late on Monday saying investigators "determined that the suspect was upset about political tensions involving China and Taiwan" but did not elaborate.

In Chou's car, Mr Barnes said, investigators found notes written in Chinese that indicated an obsession with Taiwan and a dislike of Taiwanese people.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary. Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

All of the victims - whose names have not been released - were of Asian heritage. Among those killed was a physician. Dr John Cheng, 52, was shot when he tackled the gunman, Mr Barnes said, crediting Dr Cheng's act of bravery with preventing more fatalities.

Other congregants, including a pastor, overpowered Chou and tied his legs with an electrical cord, detaining him until police arrived and broke through the chains.

Chou, who remains in custody, was believed to have acted alone, Mr Barnes said. He purchased two guns used in the attack legally in Las Vegas, where he rented a room in a shared home.

He will likely be charged with one count of murder, five counts of attempted murder and four counts of unlawful possession of explosives at an arraignment set for yesterday, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told reporters.

The wounded, four men ranging in age from 66 to 92 and an 86-year-old woman, were taken to hospitals in the area for treatment, the sheriff's department said.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen was deeply concerned about the incident and has instructed the island's Foreign Ministry to help the victims and their families, the ministry said yesterday.

The gun violence in California came on the same day as a separate mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly black neighbourhood of Buffalo, New York, that left 10 people dead and three others wounded. Most of the victims of that attack, which the FBI has labelled an act of racially motivated violent extremism, were black.

REUTERS