WA Man John Allen Chau ID’d As Web Designer Killed By Remote Tribe On Indian Island

NEW DELHI (THECOUNT) — John Allen Chau has been identified as the Washington man killed by a remote tribe in an Indian island, police announced Wednesday.

Chau, 26, an adventurer with ties to Clark County, Washington, kayaked to a remote Indian island populated by a tribe known for shooting at outsiders with bows and arrows and was killed.

In 2009, Chau lived in the Salmon Creek neighborhood and went to Vancouver Christian High School. He designed the website of an Assemblies of God outreach program at the Washington State University Vancouver campus.

Dependera Pathak, director-general of police on India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands identified the American as John Allen Chau and said he told a hotel he was 26 years old. Chau was apparently shot and killed by arrows, but the cause of death can’t be confirmed until his body is recovered, Pathak told The Associated Press. source

Chau earned the Assemblies of God’s Royal Rangers Gold Medal of Achievement, akin to an Eagle Scout award, the Columbian reported.

Pathak said seven fishermen have been arrested for helping the American reach North Sentinel Island. The Sentinelese people are resistant to outsiders and often attack anyone who comes near, and visits to the island are heavily restricted by the government.