A Month After OC Church Shooting, Pastor Reacts To Tragedy

LAGUNA WOODS, CA — A month has passed since a gunman opened fire on the campus of Geneva Presbyterian Church.

The shooter killed one Orange County doctor and injured five others, and senior pastor Reverend Steven Marsh told NBC Los Angeles that even in light of the shooting, his congregation welcomes everyone.

“Anybody. Anybody, I don’t care who comes in. If they want to come in it’s our job to say 'Yes...' Why? Because we're Christians. We all believe in Jesus. But we actually like being together,” Pastor Marsh said. “We’re partners in this mission. Yeah, they're family.”

The tragedy happened Sunday, May 15, when a Las Vegas resident traveled to Geneva Presbyterian Church while members of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian gathered for a celebratory luncheon, authorities said.

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David Chou, 68, was arrested and faces a capital murder charge — meaning he would face the death penalty if convicted — and five counts of attempted murder.

“His presence of this campus was a violation of everything we believe in,” Marsh told NBC Los Angeles.

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, according to a previous Patch report.

Cheng is survived by a wife, who was not identified, and two children.

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Cheng charged at Chou, who fired once at Cheng and struck him fatally, authorities said. 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.

After nationwide shootings in Orange County, Buffalo and Uvalde, Marsh told NBC Los Angeles that he believes politicians need to do more to stop the violence.

“It is time for you all to set aside whatever you're doing and do your best. You can't stop all killings, but you can certainly get more laws in place that will be helpful,” Marsh said. “They all need to understand this is not about your job anymore, this is about leading in our country. You're here to serve the people.”