Sunday’s deadly shooting that left one dead and five injured happened at a church just outside the gates of Laguna Woods Village, the largest retirement community in California.

It was unclear Sunday afternoon, as law enforcement officials began their investigation into the shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church, what the motive or the target was. The Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church holds its services at Geneva Presbyterian on Sundays and a luncheon was going on at the time of the shooting.

Many members of the congregation are residents of Laguna Woods Village, which is often referred to as “the Village,” and there is a Taiwanese social club among the numerous ranks of community groups in this very active senior community of about 18,800 residents.

Laguna Woods Village is a gated, age-restricted community of 3.8 square miles nestled in the Saddleback Valley of south Orange County. Most residents choose the village for an active lifestyle after retirement.

It offers three golf courses, a 10-court tennis complex and seven pickleball/paddle tennis courts. There’s also an equestrian center, three fitness centers, fitness trails and five outdoor pools.

The community offers more than 300 clubs for a variety of interests indoors and outdoors, political, social and ethnic.

There are clubs dedicated to ballroom, rock and roll and square dancing, numerous sports, computers, playing cards, Bingo and Scrabble – in short, any hobby a retiree may have, there’s a club for it in the Village.

The village also boasts a diversity of nationalities and ethnicities. The Taiwanese Club, Chinese American Club, Korean American Club and African American Club all are thriving organizations.

That closeness of the residents in activities, along with the 55-plus age demographic, put them at tremendous risk as the coronavirus became a pandemic.

But the community that could have been ground zero for infection and deaths instead managed to curb the virus’s spread within its gates, keeping the number of cases and deaths down because residents took the risk and lockdowns seriously, officials have said.

“The village is supposed to be a safe place for older residents who are retired, but this (shooting) brings the reality of the outside world right into our ‘bubble,’” said Marcy Sheinwold, president of the Foundation of Laguna Woods Village, a nonprofit that raises and distributes funds for village residents in need.

The foundation works closely with Village Management Services Social Services and saw the effects of the pandemic on the mental well-being of many older adults.

“Coming right out of the pandemic, where we had to deal with social isolation, to hear of this kind of event shattering the sense of security in the village is troubling,” Sheinwold said. “It’s very disconcerting for older people who may not have the physical and emotional strength to deal with this kind of threat.”

Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn leads the Reform Temple inside the gates of Laguna Woods Village and is also a resident of the community.

“Any type of violent action that happens in or around Laguna Woods always affects the well-being of our residents,” he said. “We must work together to ensure violence is eliminated from our community.”

Mendelsohn said he already has been talking to a number of clergy and congregants who want to support the Taiwanese community and to bring the Laguna Woods community together.

“Any group that has been targeted in the past always reacts to this kind of event with an initial reaction of fear,” he said.  “The knee-jerk reaction is always, ‘Oh my God, are we next?’”

Village Management Services advises that any village resident who needs emotional support should call Social Services at 949-597-4267.

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