Laguna Woods shooting: One dead and four injured in California church attack

Latest shooting comes a day after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in New York state

Police tape blocks off the scene of a shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. Getty Images

Jeff Hallock, of Orange County Sheriff's Department, takes questions from the media outside the church, where a man opened fire during a lunch reception before he was stopped in what the sheriff's office called an act of 'exceptional heroism and bravery'. AP Photo

An Orange County dog unit checks the grounds outside the scene of the shooting. AP Photo

Police vehicles are parked near the scene of the shooting in which at least one person was killed. AFP

Police officers arrive at a press conference after the shooting, which also left four people critically injured. AFP

The fatal shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church took place only one day after a gunman had killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York state. Reuters

Police at the scene in Laguna Woods, California. AFP

One person has been killed and four “critically” injured in a shooting at a church in Orange County, just one day after a teenage gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in New York state.

“Four victims have been critically wounded,” a post on the Orange County Sheriff Department's Twitter account said. “One victim is deceased at the scene.”

All of the victims were adults and one person also sustained “minor” injuries, the department added.

Law enforcement said an emergency call had come from Geneva Presbyterian Church at 1.26pm Sunday afternoon.

“We have detained one person and have recovered a weapon that may be involved,” the sheriff's department said in an earlier tweet.

The Orange County Fire Authority said on Twitter that its firefighters and paramedics were “on scene and treating and transporting multiple patients”.

Pictures posted on social media appeared to show emergency vehicles lined up outside a church.

The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom said it was working with local officials to monitor the situation.

“No one should have to fear going to their place of worship. Our thoughts are with the victims,” the office tweeted.

Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter, who represents Orange County in Washington, called the shooting “upsetting and disturbing news, especially less than a day after a mass shooting in Buffalo”.

“This should not be our new normal.”

According to the sheriff's department, the church is located in the town of Laguna Woods, 70 kilometres south-east of Los Angeles.