A 68-year-old Las Vegas man has been identified as the suspect who opened fire on churchgoers Sunday in Laguna Woods, California.
David Chou has been booked on one felony count of murder and five felony counts of attempted murder, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.
One person was killed and five others injured Sunday afternoon when a man attacked a lunch banquet at Geneva Presbyterian Church – before other congregants tackled and hog-tied the suspect’s legs with extension cords.
The injured victims range in age from 66 to 92 years old.
Emergency dispatchers received calls of a shooting inside Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods at 1.26pm PT (9.26 am BST) on 15 May, according to the sheriff’s office.
The suspect was still tied up when officers arrived, undersheriff Jeff Hallock said at a press conference.
“Had people not intervened , it could’ve been much worse,” he said. “There were 30 to 40 people in the church.”
Police said the suspect – who was armed with two handguns – had no apparent ties to the church, which has many Taiwanese congregants, and a motive in the shooting is still unclear.
Investigators have not discovered evidence that the violence was hate-based, as was Saturday’s mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
In addition to local police, the LA offices of the FBI and ATF are assisting with the investigation.
An ATF agent said on Sunday that the agency had put an “emergency” trace on the weapons used in the shooting, which were “commercially made” and contained legible serial numbers.
Police are also looking through the large church compound for evidence.
Linguists have been brought on scene to assist with the case.
Leaders lamented the violence at the church, coming just a day after 10 were killed in the mass shooting in New York.
“Today is a very dark day for the people of Laguna Woods and Orange County,” said Lisa Bartlett of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. “We too are now dealing with people shot.”
California US Rep Katie Porter, who represents a swath of Orange County in Congress, said in the wake of shootings in Laguna Woods and Buffalo, shootings have become “a nationwide epidemic”.
“We need elected officials across the country and at every level of government to step up and lead—not just think and pray,” she said.
Community members said they were shocked such violence had come in their community.
“I could not even imagine something like this could happen here,” Charlotte Hsieh, an organist at the church who left about an hour-and-a-half before the shooting started, told The New York Times. “I’m just as shocked as anybody.”
