Authorities: Hate against Taiwanese led to church attack

By AMY TAXIN, KEN RITTER and DEEPA BHARATH
Associated Press

LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a gunman was motivated by political hatred against Taiwan when he chained shut the doors of a California church and hid firebombs before shooting at a gathering of mainly of elderly Taiwanese parishioners. The attack killed a man who tackled the gunman and possibly saved dozens of lives. Five more people were wounded. David Chou of Las Vegas — a U.S. citizen who grew up in Taiwan — drove to Orange County on Saturday and the next day attended a lunch held by Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church. Authorities say though he knew no one there, he spent about an hour mingling with about 40 attendees before opening fire. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.