OC Church Shooting: Man Charged With Capital Murder, 9 Other Counts

LAGUNA WOODS, CA — The Las Vegas man accused of opening fire inside an Orange County church was charged Tuesday with capital murder and nine other counts and faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted on all charges, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a news conference Tuesday.

David Wenwei Chou, 68, was charged with capital murder — meaning he would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted — as well as five counts of attempted murder and four counts of possession of an explosive device.

Spitzer said Tuesday his office will conduct an extensive review before determining whether to seek capital punishment for Chou.

Chou was expected to be arraigned in Santa Ana Tuesday afternoon.

RELATED: OC Church Shooting Motivated By 'Hatred,' Explosives Found

Chou was charged in connection with the shooting Sunday at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods that killed one man and injured four other people, a crime that officials attributed to hatred of Taiwan. All the victims were Taiwanese Americans; Chou is Chinese American.

Sheriff's officials said Chou was carrying incendiary devices similar to Molotov cocktails.

Spitzer said Tuesday that he believed Chou intended to kill everyone inside the church then burn the building to the ground.

Chou traveled from Las Vegas to Orange County in order to attend a lunch banquet being held by a Taiwanese congregation at Geneva Presbyterian Church, 24301 El Toro Road, authorities said.

Dr. John Cheng, 52, a Laguna Niguel resident and physician with South Bay Medical Group in Aliso Viejo, was killed when he charged the gunman and attempted to disarm him, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said on an earlier news conference. Cheng is survived by a wife, who was not identified, and two children.

RELATED: Doctor Killed In Laguna Woods Church Shooting Lauded As A 'Hero'

Cheng charged at Chou, who fired once at Cheng and struck him fatally, Barnes said Monday. Chou attempted to shoot Cheng again, but authorities said the gun became jammed and did not go off. This allowed parishioners the seconds they needed to overwhelm Chou and restrain him, Barnes said.

The five parishioners injured in the incident were in stable condition, authorities said. No other details about their injuries were released. The sheriff's department described the five wounded victims as follows.

• A 66-year-old man.
• A 92-year-old man.
• An 82-year-old man.
• A 75-year-old man.
• An 86-year-old woman.

Spitzer said Tuesday that Chou "did everything he could to fit in" as he mingled with parishioners before pulling out a pair of semi-automatic handguns and firing into the crowd during a post- services luncheon to honor a visiting pastor.

"This case is about a person concealing themselves in plain view," Spitzer said.

Officials said the shooting may have been politically motivated. Chou, a Chinese immigrant, had no connection to the largely Taiwanese congregation or anyone in it but was motivated by political tensions between China and Taiwan, Barnes said Monday.

Investigators also found a note in Chou's car in the church parking lot that indicated his animosity toward Taiwan, officials said.

Spitzer said it appeared Chou's family was forced to move from China to Taiwan and that Chou complained he was treated poorly as an outsider over the years, officials said. Investigators have multiple translators going over the note to interpret it correctly, Spitzer said.

City News Service contributed to this article.