Laguna Woods, California
AP
When a gunman began shooting at a Taiwanese American church luncheon, Shoei Su said he froze.
The retired appraiser uses a walker and said he and many of the elderly congregants didn’t immediately know what was happening. He said the shooter said nothing before firing on churchgoers who were snapping photos after finishing lunch following last Sunday morning’s prayer service.
Pastor Albany Lee addresses congregants and community members on Saturday, 21st May, as survivors and church leaders join in prayer and thank community members for their support nearly a week after a deadly shooting at a Taiwanese American church congregation in Laguna Woods, California. PICTURE: AP Photo/Amy Taxin.
Nearly a week later, Su said he can’t sleep and is struggling to heal from the attack that killed one and wounded five in the close-knit congregation in the Southern California community of Laguna Woods, which is made up largely of retirees.
“At that time, we were not afraid,” he said. “Later, when we think about it, we’re afraid.”
A group prays at the site of a memorial for the victims of the Buffalo supermarket shooting outside the Tops Friendly Market on Saturday, 21st May, in Buffalo, New York. PICTURE: AP Photo/Joshua Bessex.
BUFFALO SHOOTING VICTIM LAID TO REST
Roberta Drury, a 32-year-old woman who was the youngest of the 10 Black people killed at a Buffalo supermarket, was remembered at her funeral Saturday for “that smile that could light up a room,” as the city marked one week since the shooting with sorrowful moments of silence.
“Robbie”, as she was called, grew up in the Syracuse area and moved to Buffalo a decade ago to help tend to her brother in his fight against leukemia. She was shot to death on 14th May on a trip to buy groceries at the Tops Friendly Market targeted by the white gunman.
“There are no words to fully express the depth and breadth of this tragedy,” Friar Nicholas Spano, parochial vicar of Assumption Church, said during the funeral service in Syracuse, not far from where Drury grew up in Cicero.
“Last Saturday, May 14, our corner of the world was changed forever,” he said. “Lives ended. Dreams shattered and our state was plunged into mourning.”
Drury’s family wrote in her obituary that she “couldn’t walk a few steps without meeting a new friend.”
“Robbie always made a big deal about someone when she saw them, always making sure they felt noticed and loved,” her sister, Amanda, told The Associated Press by text before the service.
After the funeral, at the Tops store in Buffalo, the mood was a mixture of tension and somber reflection as the city marked one week since the racist massacre.
At exactly 2:30pm, the moment the gunman opened fire, people who gathered and placed flowers near the corner where the victims have been memorialized observed a moment of silence. A dozen workers stood in a line outside of the Tops store entrance. Nearby, some mourners wept.
At the same time, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and other elected officials, along with Tops President John Persons, bowed their heads on the steps of City Hall for 123 seconds to mark the span of the attack. Houses of worship throughout the city were encouraged to ring their bells 13 times in honor of the 10 killed and three wounded.
– AARON MORRISON, Buffalo, New York/AP
His comments came as survivors, churchgoers and leaders from the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church joined in prayer Saturday and thanked community members for their support at an event on the campus of Geneva Presbyterian Church, where the Taiwanese congregation shares space.
Authorities say the gunman, David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, was motivated by hatred of Taiwan, where he was born and grew up after his family was forced from mainland China when Communists took control. He had no connection to the church but spent about an hour with attendees apparently to gain their trust so he could execute his plot, authorities said.
Authorities said Chou had two nine millimetre handguns and three bags containing four Molotov-cocktail-type incendiary devices and ammunition. They said he chained doors shut and glued locks before he began shooting.
Dr John Cheng, the 52-year-old son of a congregant, charged him and was shot. He died at the scene, but his quick action disrupted the shooter, who was then hit by a chair thrown by the church’s former pastor, Billy Chang, and jumped on by several congregation members who used an extension cord to tie him up until police arrived.
Cheng was the only person killed. Five others were wounded, including four men aged 66 to 92 and an 86-year-old woman.
The community is still reeling from the attack. At Saturday’s event, churchgoers bowed their heads in prayer and several sobbed. Bouquets of sunflowers and roses were laid out with notes reading “RIP Dr Cheng.”
Pastor Albany Lee, the congregation’s leader who was away last Sunday, said he remembers meeting with Cheng a few months ago while visiting the family after Cheng’s father died. He said Cheng, who didn’t usually attend the Taiwanese congregation but took his mother there last week, in his eyes is more than a hero but one of two angels who, along with Chang, saved the community.
On Sunday, his congregation will resume its weekly prayer service. Security will be tight and no media coverage allowed on the Geneva campus.
Lee said trauma specialists will be available to assist the community for the next few weeks and coming together for worship is critical, despite the pain many feel.
“I think this is the most important time that we need to come together as a faith community,” he said. “We can help each other.”
