The Nation - News from March 7, 1988

A gunman walked into a crowded church in Emporia, Kan., and opened fire with a semiautomatic pistol, killing a deacon and wounding four others before parishioners subdued him, authorities said. The neatly dressed man, identified as Cheunphon Ji, 29, of Hacienda Heights, Calif., entered through the side door of the Calvary Baptist Church during services and began firing randomly, without a word, at the 100 people inside, Police Chief Larry Blomenkamp said. Church members scrambled for cover under pews, and as the gunman tried to reload, one of the church trustees got up and ran toward him and chased him out into the street. The trustee, Jerry Waddell, hit the gunman with a hymnal and he and other members of the congregation tackled him and held him for police, authorities said. Police said they found a duffel bag filled with handguns and ammunition in the church. No motive was given.