Heroic doctor killed in attack on California church was a Baylor alum
WACO, Texas (KWTX & AP) - Dr. John Cheng, 52, the heroic doctor killed while confronting an active shooter inside a California church, graduated from Baylor University in 1991, KWTX has confirmed.
Authorities in Orange County, California say the gunman, identified as David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese people.
Chou is accused of killing Cheng and wounding five others at Geneva Presbyterian Church during a lunch held by Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which worships at that church in Laguna Woods.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said the motive of the shooting was a grievance between Chou and the Taiwanese community.
Chou’s family was among many that were apparently forcibly removed from China to Taiwan sometime after 1948, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
Chou’s hatred toward the island, documented in hand-written notes that authorities found, seems like it began when he felt he wasn’t treated well while living there.
Barnes, the sheriff, said Chou drove from Las Vegas to the Orange County church, where he was not a regular attendee, secured the doors with chains, super glue and nails and started shooting. The gunman had placed four Molotov cocktail-like devices inside the church.
Barnes said Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who is survived by a wife and two children, heroically charged at the shooter and attempted to disarm him, allowing others to intervene. Cheng probably saved the lives “of upwards of dozens of people,” the sheriff said.
A pastor hit the gunman on the head with a chair and parishioners hog-tied him with electrical cords. But Cheng was hit by gunfire.
Chou has been booked on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder and is being held on $1 million bail.
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