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A photo of Dr John Cheng outside of Geneva Presbyterian Church.

Doctor who died as he tackled gunman in church shooting is hailed a hero

Dr John Cheng was killed as he stopped a man shooting at worshippers in a Taiwanese church in California.

A GUNMAN MOTIVATED by hatred against Taiwan chained shut the doors of a California church and hid firebombs before shooting at a gathering of mostly elderly Taiwanese parishioners, US authorities said.

David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, a US citizen whom authorities say grew up in Taiwan,  attended a Sunday lunch held by Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which worships at Geneva Presbyterian Church in the community of Laguna Woods.

He opened fire at the parishioners and in the ensuing chaos Dr John Cheng, 52, tackled him, allowing others to subdue him and tie him up with extension cords.

Cheng died and five people were wounded, the oldest 92.

Sheriff Don Barnes called Cheng’s heroism “a meeting of good versus evil” that probably saved the lives “of upwards of dozens of people”.

Chou was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and jailed on $1 million bail.

It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

A federal hate crimes investigation is also ongoing.

When Chou arrived to the church he spent about an hour mingling with about 40 attendees, despite not knowing anyone there, and then executed his plot, authorities said at a news conference.

He chained the doors and put super glue in the keyholes. He had two 9mm handguns – legally purchased years ago in Las Vegas – and three bags, containing among other things four Molotov-cocktail-type incendiary devices and extra ammunition.

Jerry Chen, a long-time member of the church, said a group of about 40 congregants had gathered in the fellowship hall for a luncheon after a morning service to welcome their former Pastor Billy Chang, a beloved and respected community member who had served the church for 20 years.

Everyone had just finished lunch and were taking photos with Chang when Chen went into the kitchen. That’s when he heard the gunshots.

Barnes said Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who is survived by a wife and two children, charged at the shooter and attempted to disarm him, allowing others to intervene. Chang hit the gunman on the head with a chair before other parishioners subdued him.

Barnes said the motive for the shooting was Chou’s hatred toward Taiwan that was documented in handwritten notes that authorities found.

Chou’s family apparently was among many forcibly removed from mainland China to Taiwan sometime after 1948, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

Barnes said Chou acted alone and was “not believed to be associated with any specific church or any religion, and there’s no direct connection to the church or any member of the church that we’re aware of”.

Those wounded by gunshots included an 86-year-old woman as well as four men, ages 66, 75, 82 and 92, the sheriff’s department said.

Authorities said yesterday that two of the wounded were in good condition, two were in stable condition and the status of the fifth patient was undetermined.

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:42 PM

    Just ban celebrities.

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    Mute Martin Galvin
    Favourite Martin Galvin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:02 PM

    @Dave Barrett: If people are calling for a ban on the overpaid court jesters from promoting junk food, they need a good hard look at themselves ….. The fact that they think that their children, or themselves, are influenced by this, says more about their fragile-mindedness than anything else …. By the way, it’s not your ‘glands’, you’re just eating too much crap, and if your kids are constantly asking you for junk food, just say ‘no’ …. They’ll thank you for it in later life…. Own your lack of assertiveness….

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:48 PM

    @Dave Barrett: lol

    7
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    Mute Dian
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:40 PM

    Majority? No one asked me …

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    Mute HonestGrump
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:53 PM

    @Dian: Me neither.

    Did any Journal reader get asked?

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    Mute Nollaig Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:38 PM

    @Dian: not me

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    Mute HonestGrump
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 7:18 PM

    @HonestGrump:

    Four hours have passed and not a single person has said they were asked the question.

    It’s clear this is just another bullish!te article invented by the useless reporters of this rag.

    13
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    Mute Mjhint
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:43 PM

    Bán them from expressing their political opinions as well.

    174
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    Mute Edmund Spencer
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:58 PM

    @Mjhint: Generally I’m in favour of less regulation on most things but I’d absolutely stand behind this being signed into law.

    34
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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:48 PM

    I’m more concerned with celebrity changing impressionable young minds’ attitudes on illegal drug use, sexuality and body image issue, thanks for asking.

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    Mute The Grand Nagus
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:56 PM

    That’s a mighty fine burger.

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    Mute Harriet Shields
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:20 PM

    I’d prefer to ban them from promoting diets and wellness merchandise that has not scientific backing what so ever.

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    Mute Cynical
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:58 PM

    But we still advertise alcohol during sporting events, surely a burger and fries is much healthier than that?

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    Mute Robert O Farrell
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:22 PM

    First off the dreadful Snoop Dog Just Eat ads need banning. We’ve all suffered enough this past year or so.

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    Mute Brian Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:39 PM

    Jesus I would love some junk food right now (licking my lips) at that wonderful picture of a double burger & chips! Yummyyyyyyyy!!!!

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    Mute Richard Cronin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:47 PM

    @Brian Kelly: I have a hankering now some spicy chicken wings & chips

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    Mute Charmaine ☘ Irish
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:03 PM

    @Richard Cronin: me too.. think Eddie rockets burger, chips and wings with franks hot sauce.. definitely getting it now..

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    Mute Mike
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:32 PM

    @Charmaine ☘ Irish: Sold…Takeaway for me tonight

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:54 PM

    @Brian Kelly: I had a big plate of chicken fried rice for lunch.. it was yummy! and surprisingly, not that unhealthy!

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    Mute Proudly Italian
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:06 PM

    How ridiculous… just teach kids to eat well, starting from school. But not just ‘banning’ sweets from their lunch box, I mean real eating lessons. Then, they can enjoy some junk food every now and then…

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:59 PM

    @Proudly Italian: If people learned to cook properly, some things considered junk can be rather healthy.

    I had chicken fried rice for lunch today. I used a packet of microwave coconut chicken from aldi (no additives, nothing unexpected), and then added some leftover roast chicken, soya sauce, spicebag seasoning and an egg.

    Rice in the pan first. Toss in the seasoning. Then the soya sauce and chicken. Lastly, push everything to one side, scramble the egg, then mix it through for a couple of minutes. I probably used a tablespoon of oil at most. Likely, I used less.

    I regularly eat egg fried rice for lunch. Most of the time, it’s just leftover rice from dinner the night before. Today though, I needed to stay off wheat, and didn’t want wheat free pasta again.. so I grabbed one of those microwave packs of rice in aldi this morning, and threw this together. If I wanted to, I could have thrown in veg of some sort, but I wasn’t in the mood for veg.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:07 PM

    @Mirabelle Stonegate: I’d consider changing my diet if I were you as it seems to have given you a bad case of logorrhoea…

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    Mute Eamonn Martin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:14 PM

    @Proudly Italian: Fully agree. Cancel culture has gone mental. Educate people and then let them make their own decisions.
    This goes for way more than just food. Please stop the bad man on tv making me do the bad things and now I’m all sad. Weak people ask for these things.

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:20 PM

    @William Tallon: why? Because I wasn’t in the mood for veg for one meal? That’s not going to cause significant issues in fairness.

    My favourite thing to make is pizza. I make homemade dough for the base. Then its topped with veg and a little meat. The next day, any leftovers get made into either a fried rice or pasta dish which actually tends to stretch to two meals. I usually put red pepper, spinach, corn and pineapple on my pizzas, as well as plain tomato puree. Yes,I’m a pineapple on pizza person.

    Also, being both wheat and lactose intolerant, its very easy to keep myself.. regular. In fact, I’ve currently having a few days of detoxing from wheat atm, because I’ve somehow had far too much lately.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:10 PM

    @Mirabelle Stonegate: Logorrhea on steroids or maybe it’s meant as a parody of pompous food columnists that’s unfortunately fallen flat like a bad soufflé…

    10
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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:00 PM

    Are celebrities the real reason we overeat? I do not think so. Loads of other reasons.

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:05 PM

    How many celebrities promote the spraying of toxic chemicals on your self at an overly inflated price to production? 3% of the population are allergic to perfume after all. They also promote environmentally damaging products and fast disposable fashion.

    20
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    Mute Tomo
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:02 PM

    Who cares? Educate people on the risks. We don’t learn about much to do with life in school (taxes, cooking, germ theory, personal hygiene, drug use, etc). Educate people seriously about these things and peoples’ behaviours will change. That’s the only way to tackle this. Some people really don’t understand dietary requirements that their body need to prosper.

    Let adults consume whatever they want. Education is the key to most problems.

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    Mute Tarraing Mo Liathróidí
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:55 PM

    I’d prefer celebrities and the Z list knock off celebrities RTE usually find for the late late or their radio shows banned before banning them promoting junk food, cos their personalities and talent is as bad for your health to watch as a big Mac

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    Mute JustMeHere
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:07 PM

    Riveting stuff….

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    Mute Peter B
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:15 PM

    I really feel like eating a burger and chips after reading that……..I’m off Burger King for a Rebel Whopper

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    Mute Nollaig Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:38 PM

    Get kids off their arse and away from video games and off social media and then let them go outside and run around
    I grew up in the 70s and most things we ate would be seen as unhealthy today. Frying in lard everything seemed to have added sugar if it didn’t we added it, but very rarely was there fat kids as I said above we got outside and ran around and so on
    Today people want to blame everthing but the problem

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:56 PM

    @Nollaig Kelly: well said. I saw a program of kids playing on the street in the 70s and the boys bomming up and down on their Rally choppers and girls playing skipping with their dad’s tow rope, elastic, and clapping hands against one another’s hands and just wonderful memories. We were so happy

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:51 PM

    Ffs what difference will that make. If ppl want to drink they’ll drink. If they want to smoke they’ll smoke. If they want to be grossly unhealthy and feed their kids junk they’ll do that. Banning celebrities isn’t going to change anything. I’m annoyed that I can’t get points on my clubcard anymore from alcohol, that’s how I used to get great vouchers haha.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:53 PM
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    Mute Sense of Doubt
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 7:49 PM

    Pity they couldn’t extent it to a ban on them expressing ill understood trendy political views. It would make the world a little bit more bearable.

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    Mute Eoghan Deegan
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:27 PM

    Probably more to do with being sick of seeing those people on TV, and less to do with the food!!

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:05 PM

    Who care. Won’t ban

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Apr 23rd 2021, 8:27 AM

    “can’t understand it, ban it”

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