A well-respected California physician was killed Sunday when a gunman opened hearth at a luncheon of Asian churchgoers in an assault motivated by hate for Taiwanese individuals.
Orange County officers mentioned Monday that Dr John Cheng died after he tackled the gunman and tried to disarm him.
‘With out the actions of Dr Cheng, it's little doubt that there can be quite a few extra victims on this crime,’ mentioned Sheriff Donald Barnes.
Witnesses say Cheng, a outstanding sports activities medication physician, instantly went for the suspected gunman, recognized as 68-year-old David Chou of Las Vegas, and tackled him to the bottom earlier than he was fatally shot.
Barnes mentioned that the motivation behind the taking pictures was Chou’s alleged hatred for Taiwanese individuals. Chou, an US citizen from China, ‘was upset about political tensions between China and Taiwan’ and allegedly drove almost 300 miles from Las Vegas to Geneva Presbyterian Church to hold out the taking pictures.
A federal hate crimes investigation has been opened in opposition to Chou to find out if extra expenses might be introduced in opposition to him, in keeping with Kristi Johnson, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles workplace.
Chou traveled to southern California on Saturday, a day earlier than the assault. He's accused of securing doorways with chains and utilizing glue to disable locks. It’s unclear whether or not he has connections to the church or its parishioners.
About 40 individuals who belong to the Taiwanese church have been contained in the constructing on the time of the taking pictures.
Dr Cheng, 53, was the one individual killed within the assault, and has since been hailed a hero by the neighborhood for his swift motion in opposition to the gunman, which doubtless saved lives.
‘It's identified that Dr Cheng charged the suspect, tried to disarm him, which allowed different parishioners to then intercede, taking the suspect into custody,’ Barnes mentioned.
After Cheng charged on the gunman, different congregants stepped in and hogtied the shooter up as authorities arrived on the scene.
Barnes mentioned that Dr Cheng’s actions ‘saved the lives of in all probability upwards of dozens of individuals.’
Different congregants, a lot of whom have been aged, additionally risked their lives whereas confronting the gunman, together with a pastor who threw a chair at him, Barnes mentioned.
‘They acted spontaneously, heroically, and if not for his or her fast motion, the best way that this particular person arrange that atmosphere, to kill many extra individuals, there would have been many, many extra lives misplaced,’ Barnes mentioned.
Officers recovered a number of baggage of ammunition contained in the church in addition to 4 Molotov cocktails, Barnes mentioned.
5 different individuals have been injured by gunfire within the taking pictures, together with an 86-year-old Asian girl and 4 Asian males, ages 66, 75, 82 and 92.
The vast majority of these in attendance on the church are believed to be of Taiwanese descent, in keeping with the sheriff’s workplace.
The church taking pictures was one among a number of to rock the US over the weekend. In Buffalo, New York, an 18-year-old gunman opened hearth in a grocery store, killing 10 and wounding three in what officers say was a racially motivated act of hate.
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