A 70-year-old Las Vegas man accused of killing a doctor and wounding five other people during a mass shooting at a Taiwanese Presbyterian church event in Laguna Woods will face a jury trial for special circumstances murder and attempted murder charges and hate crime enhancements, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday.
Judge Craig E. Robison, following several hours of testimony by victims and law enforcement during a preliminary hearing at the Santa Ana courthouse, ruled that there was enough evidence for David Wenwei Chou to go to trial on the 10 felonies he has been charged with — which also include use of a destructive device — and on hate crime enhancements.
According to previous accounts by county prosecutors and Sheriff officials, Chou on May 15, 2022 allegedly brought a 9-millimeter-semi-automatic pistol and bags filled with incendiary devices and extra magazines of ammunition into a dining hall that was being used by the congregation of Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian. Federal prosecutors have accused Chou of attacking the church congregants “because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith.”
Chou had apparently attended a guest sermon by Pastor Billy Chang — a former leader of the congregation who spent several years in Taiwan — before joining other church members for a luncheon. Prosecutors allege that Chou used padlocks, Super Glue and nails to seal most of the doors to the church dining hall and then opened fire on the elderly church members.
Dr. John Cheng — a Laguna Niguel resident and sports medicine and family doctor with an Aliso Viejo practice — reportedly rushed at Chou. The doctor was shot twice, suffering fatal wounds. But authorities say his actions gave other congregants enough time to hit Chou with a chair and to pin him on the ground and hogtie him until deputies arrived.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Henry Ang — a member of the church — described being struck by gunfire. Ang, who is legally blind, was being helped out of the church when he and a friend realized the doors were blocked, Ang testified.
“I heard the sound of the gun — ‘pop, pop, pop,’” Ang said, adding that he and his friend immediately hit the ground. “When I lay down, I feel the bullet come into my foot. It felt hot, and pain.”
Ang said he was struck on his right leg, between his ankle and lower shin, had to undergo surgery and still feels pain several years later.
Orange County Sheriff’s Investigator Heather Timmins testified that a woman who was at the church with her husband had reported hearing shouting and yelling, seeing a large man wearing black clothing and a black mask and then gunfire.
“She and her husband were both shot one time,” the investigator testified, noting the couple had both been struck in the stomach. “They both fell to the floor and realized they couldn’t get up.”
Sheriff Investigator Robert Taft described responding to the church to find the body of Dr. Cheng — who had suffered eight bullet wounds — and seeing spent shell casings, bullets, bullet holes, and bags with additional loaded magazines and suspected incendiary devices in mason jars that smelled of flammable liquid.
Newport Beach Police Officer Jacob Khor, a native Mandarin speaker, headed to the sheriff headquarters after the shooting to assist two investigators in interviewing Chou.
Khor testified that after Chou was informed of his Miranda rights, Chou said he wanted a Mandarin speaking attorney, if possible one from Taiwan.
“He told me he had written a letter to explain the things he did at the church,” Khor said. “And he had left it in his vehicle.”
Orange County and federal law enforcement officials have cited those writings that were allegedly found in Chou’s car to argue that the mass shooting was a politically motivated hate incident driven by Chou’s alleged longstanding grievance with the Taiwanese community.
According to authorities, Chou was born in Taiwan in 1953, at a time when tension between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China ran high. While growing up, Chou allegedly felt he was “not well received” while living in Taiwan before immigrating to the United States, law enforcement officials previously said.
Authorities haven’t specified why Chou — who at the time was working as a security guard in Las Vegas — targeted the Orange County congregation. But they have speculated that it could have been because it was the closest concentration of Taiwanese victims.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office still has to decide whether they will pursue life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. That decision will ultimately be made by DA Todd Spitzer, usually after deliberations with his senior advisors and prosecutors and input from the defense.
In a separate but related federal court case, Chou is also facing nearly 100 hate crime, weapons and explosives related charges, which carry their own potential penalties of life in prison or the death penalty.
