‘Southern California church shooting based on hate against Taiwanese community’

HOUSTON, Texas (AA) – Authorities in Southern California say a man who opened fire at a church on Sunday, killing one and injuring five others, was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate against Taiwanese people.

Police say 68-year-old David Chou entered the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in the city of Laguna Woods, 46 miles (74 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, and opened fire in the middle of the congregation.

Chou was booked on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Police say the suspect lawfully purchased the two 9mm pistols in Las Vegas and had also placed four Molotov cocktail-like devices inside the church during the rampage.

Sunday’s shooting came just 24 hours after a gunman killed ten people in Buffalo, in what is being investigated as a racist attack.

Gun violence is shockingly common in the United States, where deadly weapons are readily available and a powerful gun lobby works to prevent controls on their sale and distribution.

More than 45,000 Americans died from guns — half by suicide — in 2021, up from just over 39,000 in 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

Some 7,000 people have already died from homicide shootings or unintentional gunshots in the United States this year, with shootings in public places an almost daily occurrence.

There have been 202 mass shootings, defined as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed, so far this year, according to the archive.