A 72-year-old man pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court to an alleged hate-crime mass shooting in a Laguna Woods church that killed a doctor and wounded five others.
David Wenwei Chou made his first appearance in federal court on an indictment related to the May 15, 2022, shooting inside the Geneva Presbyterian Church where a Taiwanese congregation was holding a luncheon to celebrate the return of a former pastor. Authorities have said Chou was motivated by a long-standing grievance against the Taiwanese community over tensions with China.
Chou is accused of killing 52-year-old Aliso Viejo-based Dr. John Cheng, who rushed the gunman, which authorities said allowed for other parishioners to subdue the assailant, who they hogtied with an electrical cord until police arrived.
Chou is also charged in state court with a count of murder with a special circumstance allegation that the attack was racially motivated and also faces five counts of attempted premeditated murder as well as sentencing enhancements for lying in wait and the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. Chou was bound over for trial following a preliminary hearing last year and is awaiting trial in state court.
Federal prosecutors in January filed an intent to seek the death penalty against Chou. The federal trial was scheduled for May 4 and is expected to take six weeks.
In federal court, Chou faces 45 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs by force, which resulted in the death of one victim, attempts to kill 44 others and included the use of a gun and explosives and fire.
He was also indicted on 45 counts of violating hate crimes with an attack on Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian congregants in Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods and one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce by means of fire and explosives, one count of carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony offense and six counts of using a gun during the commission of a crime of violence.
The defendant was accused of opening fire with two semiautomatic handguns May 15 of last year inside the church where the Taiwanese congregation was holding a luncheon to celebrate the return of a former pastor. Authorities alleged Chou carried out the shooting due to a long-standing grievance against the Taiwanese community over tensions with China.
Chou allegedly mingled amid the congregation and barricaded the church doors in hopes of trapping people inside. Authorities said he was in possession of four incendiary devices resembling Molotov cocktails, along with a bag of additional ammunition.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said previously he believed Chou intended to kill everyone in the church, then burn down the building.