Laguna Woods shooting was a hate crime targeting Taiwanese, sheriff alleges

The suspect in the Laguna Woods church taking pictures Sunday appeared to be motivated by political hatred directed at the Taiwanese group, Orange County Sheriff’s officials reported Monday.

Whilst investigators supplied number of details, they stated their investigation implies the deadly attack was a politically inspired loathe incident.

“We believe that, dependent on what we’ve identified so far, that he precisely targeted the Taiwanese group, and this is one representation of that Taiwanese community,” stated Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, referring to the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which was the target of the attack.

The suspect in the capturing — which left one particular useless and 5 hurt — has been determined as David Wenwei Chou, 68, of Las Vegas.

Between the proof recovered, Barnes said, were being notes penned in Chinese that Chou still left in his motor vehicle displaying he did not imagine Taiwan ought to be an independent state from China. Regulation enforcement sources explained investigators recovered a handwritten take note in his vehicle environment out his motivations and considering for the attack.

Chou was born in mainland China and at some level relocated to Taiwan just before going to the United States, according to Barnes. The sheriff stated it appears Chou experienced an problem with Taiwanese individuals since of the way he explained he was handled while dwelling there.

It is not crystal clear how extended Chou lived in Taiwan, but Barnes stated he has been in the United States for a long time and is a U.S. citizen.

The FBI has opened a federal despise crime investigation into the capturing, according to Kristi Johnson, assistant director in charge of the bureau’s Los Angeles office. That would be in addition to any neighborhood expenses submitted in Orange County.

Chou was arrested Sunday and is becoming held in lieu of $1-million bail at the Orange County Consumption Release Center, jail records demonstrate. He is scheduled to seem in court docket Tuesday.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun mentioned he was booked on a single depend of murder and 5 counts of attempted murder.

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The taking pictures occurred Sunday at the Geneva Presbyterian Church. The congregants in attendance ended up users of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which has been holding services at Geneva for years.

The person killed in the shooting was discovered Monday as John Cheng, 52, of Laguna Niguel. He leaves guiding a wife and two small children.

Five other people — 4 adult men ages 66, 92, 82 and 75, and an 86-12 months-outdated girl — were being shot and wounded. As of Monday afternoon, two of individuals men and women were being hospitalized in good condition, with two some others in stable condition, in accordance to the Orange County Fire Authority. The status of the fifth victim was not instantly out there.

Officials praised Cheng as a hero, stating his selfless steps gave other congregants the possibility to subdue the shooter.

Cheng billed the suspect and tried to disarm him, “which allowed other parishioners to then intercede,” Barnes stated.

“He sacrificed himself so that some others could reside,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said.

Officials alleged that the suspect secured church doors with chains and attempted to disable locks with superglue. He also tried to nail at the very least a person doorway shut, Barnes reported. Bags made up of journals of ammunition, as perfectly as 4 Molotov-cocktail-like incendiary units, ended up found at the scene.

Barnes praised the steps of parishioners, stating the shooting “could have been substantially, much worse.”

“The majority of the people in attendance ended up aged, and they acted spontaneously, heroically. And if not for their speedy motion, the way that this specific established up that natural environment to destroy many additional folks, there would have been quite a few, lots of additional lives lost if not for the concerted energy of the members of that church,” he explained.

Louis M. Huang, director standard at the Taipei Financial and Cultural Business office in Los Angeles, mentioned his business has reached out to relatives customers of all victims.

Four of the five victims, which include Cheng, held Taiwanese citizenship, Huang stated. The remaining victim was born in the Philippines but spoke Taiwanese because of their heritage, Huang explained.

Cheng came to the United States at a incredibly early age. Other victims were being senior citizens who largely came to the U.S. to review three or four decades ago, Huang explained.

With regards to the evidence recovered by law enforcement indicating the shooter was enthusiastic by the political divide concerning China and Taiwan, Huang demurred, saying he was just listening to the details as effectively. But he strongly defended Taiwan as a cost-free, democratic nation.

“I want to call on everyone, anywhere … any individuals in this region to respect the main values of independence,” Huang explained. “Flexibility of speech is something that we have to respect, but we have to abide by the regulation.”

“Any person sharing distinct views have to regard each individual other. Basically, that is what democracy is all about,” he claimed. “People today could possibly keep unique views … but it won’t indicate they have the correct to attack any person.”

The taking pictures transpired throughout a lunch in a hall after a worship provider. The event was honoring Billy Chang, who had served as pastor for 21 decades until leaving in 2020 to head a congregation in Taiwan.

The 100 or so members of Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, most of whom are senior citizens, worship in their native language — not Mandarin but Taiwanese, a dialect that was as soon as suppressed by the Kuomintang regime.

In an account relayed by his son, Stanley, Billy Chang said he “was perplexed at initial. At initially he considered it was a balloon popping or a joke, that it was just meant to scare people. But soon after observing that everyone experienced crouched down, he understood some thing was wrong.”

“He imagined, ‘I have to do some thing,’ so when the gunman was not hunting, he sneaked on the side of the place, grabbed a chair and was equipped to strike the gunman whilst he was reloading,” Stanley Chang wrote in a text message. “He is not certain if the gun fell out of the shooter’s hand at that level or immediately after the gunman dropped his stability after being strike. My dad pinned him on the flooring just before asking for enable restraining his arms and legs from other associates.”

The gunman “did not say nearly anything just before he begun shooting in the course of the luncheon,” Stanley Chang additional, “so there was a ton of confusion.”

Authorities mentioned other associates of the congregation tackled the suspect and hogtied him with an extension twine, a transfer officials think probably saved several lives.

Officers recovered two firearms at the scene. According to an official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, each ended up 9 mm semiautomatic pistols purchased lawfully in Las Vegas in 2015 and 2017.

Soon just after Sunday’s attack, authorities achieved out to the Metropolitan Law enforcement Office and federal brokers in Las Vegas to aid with the investigation. Investigators had been searching Chou’s Las Vegas dwelling Monday, according to law enforcement resources.

At Gate 7 to Laguna Woods Village on Monday, a handful of locals collected, cellphones poised to videotape any comings and goings across the avenue at the church. Men and women at the retirement neighborhood and their good friends were abuzz about the tragedy.

Hannah Youthful posted some video on the net, wanting to share with family members curious about the newest headlines emerging from “quiet” Orange County.

“When we get people, they think it can be a relaxed area, attractive inexperienced spot and we have a great deal of h2o on faucet and in the ocean. You do not expect peace to be disturbed like this — and with demise,” the retired nursing assistant claimed.

She spent a number of hours on the cellular phone before heading out for her normal stroll, updating her circle on the most current news and logging into Taiwanese web sites to soak up chatter.

“This is world wide now,” she reported. “We have men and women calling us from China making an attempt to determine out what took place.”

Caretaker Samuel Nganga was cleaning a coffee thermos in the kitchen Sunday afternoon when he listened to what he assumed were two gunshots.

A co-worker burst by means of the doorway yelling, “Sam, there’s a shooting, shooting, capturing!” and asked him for the church tackle to give to a 911 operator.

Nganga, a 10-calendar year worker and Geneva church member, mentioned he crawled outside on his palms and knees to stay away from getting noticed.

“The trauma,” he mirrored. “You know when the shooting is following to you — there is trauma.”

Four church members weaved by way of the kitchen area, set apart from Simpson Hall where photographs ended up fired, to escape, and Nganga remembers regulation enforcement hurrying to the site “so rapid.”

Afterward, he attended to churchgoers by passing out water and supporting them to their seats. He described Geneva as “a put exactly where we all know just one another” and claimed when staying fearful, he’s eager to resume working.

Beneath a church indicator endorsing Sunday worship, smaller blooms emerged — a token from grieving citizens. Irvine homemaker Ilene Feng stopped by Monday afternoon to insert a bouquet of sunflowers to the mix.

“I was stunned, torn aside that this would contact our neighborhood, the Taiwanese local community,” she claimed. “We want the church users to know we’re mourning with them.”

Atop the stems, a single of Feng’s 3 daughters had prepared the words: “To our Taiwanese spouse and children: We adore you.”

Feng, who has been scrolling by Television and newspaper sites to take in the twists and turns of the shooting, mentioned she talked to her very own household about its implications. “We’ve been striving to train our youngsters about their heritage and to be proud of it. This is a time for standing alongside one another.”

His head bowed and arms clasped, “Diamond” Mike Watson stood at the edge of the church parking whole lot reflecting on the “countless years” he, his spouse and daughters were Geneva customers and how worship leaders created a youth ministry that gathered members for a weekly meal.

Watson, owner of a Santa Ana diamond gallery, utilised to clean pots and pans soon after consuming.

“I discovered it so ironic how this event revolves about a meal — related to the fellowship meal we all relished so typically,” he mentioned. “This was a likelihood to get to know a single yet another.”

He bowed all over again, incorporating: “I see slices of lifestyle as a discovering expertise. I’m even now seeking to have an understanding of what the lesson from tragedy is in this article.”

In advance of Sunday’s support, users greeted the suspect — whom they had by no means noticed before — and welcomed him. He instructed them he experienced attended providers quite a few periods, but the members were being doubtful simply because no a single identified him, churchgoer Jerry Chen reported.

Chen, who was inside the church at the time of the shooting, mentioned the suspect spoke to parishioners in Taiwanese.

Peggy Huang, a Yorba Linda Town Council member whose parents belong to the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, explained some customers informed her the person opened fireplace as churchgoers ended up taking images with the pastor.

She additional that lots of church associates had served in the Taiwanese military, which is expected for youthful adult males.

The Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church started out in 1994 in borrowed area in a further church in its namesake city. It ultimately moved to one more borrowed house in a Tustin church in advance of settling at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods in 2012.

On Sundays, the Taiwanese group worships at 10 a.m. the Geneva group gathers independently at 10:30.

In a statement posted on the net, the pastor of Geneva Presbyterian Church — the Rev. Steven M. Marsh — asked local community customers to “make sure you preserve the management and congregation of ITPC in your prayers as they treatment for people traumatized by this taking pictures.”

“The Geneva Church family members will assist the ITPC congregation by way of this traumatic encounter. We will hear to this local community and abide by their guide,” he wrote.

Michael Downing, a previous deputy chief of counterterrorism and best national security professional, explained that “churches and spots of worship are this kind of an open system. They are especially challenging to shield.”

“We do truly want to see magnetometers exterior churches,” he reported.

Downing stated suspects like the a single in Orange County usually expose their intent in unintended ways prior to carrying out their programs, and that, “The finest matter you can do is coach your security persons to realize habits.”

Sites of worship want to beware “if there is intelligence or chat about social media” of a likely threat, he explained.

Cynthia Conners, a Geneva church member and mayor professional tem of Laguna Woods, explained about 150 people generally show up at the Taiwanese Sunday services, usually gathering afterward for lunch.

“We deemed it seriously fortunate that they came to us,” Conners said. “We have tried using to be inclusive and share lots of activities.”

Moments workers author Jeong Park contributed to this report.

This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Moments.