A gunman who opened fire inside a Southern California church on Sunday, killing one person and critically wounding four others, was overpowered by congregants who then hogtied him, preventing further bloodshed, the authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 1:26 p.m. inside the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, Calif., about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles in a community largely made up of retirees and one that has a well-established Asian community.
Most of the victims were of Taiwanese descent, though officials were still investigating if they had been targeted, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. A motive for the shooting was not immediately clear.
The gunman, an Asian man in his 60s, fired inside the church while the members ate lunch after a morning service, Undersheriff Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said at a news conference.
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