Hours after an elderly church goer was killed and five others were injured in Laguna Woods church shooting, the police have identified the mass shooter as David Chou. The Asian American was influenced by the ongoing political tension between China and Taiwan.
The church shooting came a day after 10 people were killed and several others injured after a man wearing a military uniform opened fire inside a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The gunman, who live-streamed the shooting, was later identified as Payton Gendron.
Shooter had Grudge Against Taiwan
In the incident which took place around 1.25 pm, the group comprising largely of Taiwanese had gathered for lunch at the Geneva Presbyterian Church to celebrate former pastor Billy Chang's return to US from Taiwan after two years.
The Daily Mail reported that according to the deputies Chou, hailing from Las Vegas, was motivated by his victims' ethnicity. Chou's victims included included four men, aged between 66 and 92, and an 86-year-old woman. He has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Chou is being held on $1 million bail.
As per the public records, Chou has been associated with multiple different addresses since the late 1980s, pointing to the possibility that he's a property investor, the Orange County Register claimed.
Chou Superglued the Locks
After trying to superglue the locks inside the church, Chou started firing shots randomly. Jerry Chen, a congregant, who was inside the kitchen at the time of the shooting told the outlet, that he saw church members shouting and hiding under tables. "I knew someone was shooting. I was very, very scared. I ran out the kitchen door to call 911," he said.
It was when Chou stopped to reload his weapon, Pastor Chang hit him on the head with a chair as others rushed to take away his weapon. He was later tied by the members of the church, until the police arrived.
Claiming that armed Chou drove all the way from Las Vegas, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said that Chou, a U.S. citizen, was born in China and hated Taiwan. The shooter was also carrying a bag full of Molotov cocktails inside the church.
