HATE CRIMES CHARGES FILED IN CALIF. SHOOTING

Suspect could face death penalty in slaying at church

A 68-year-old man accused of killing one person and injuring five others at a Taiwanese Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods has been charged with hate crime enhancements, Orange County prosecutors announced Friday.

David Wenwei Chou of Las Vegas had previously been charged with murder, attempted murder and other felony counts in the May 15 shooting.

Prosecutors this week added a hate crimes enhancement to the murder charge, alleging that Chou’s killing of Dr. John Cheng, 52, was motivated by race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin.

Prosecutors also added hate crime enhancements for each of the five counts of attempted murder against Chou.

Chou could face the death penalty if convicted of all charges, which also include four counts of possession of an explosive device, enhancements of lying in wait and personal discharge of a firearm causing death. He has not entered a plea, according to court records.

Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes last month characterized the shootings as a “politically motivated hate incident” and said authorities think Chou “specifically targeted the Taiwanese community.”

Barnes said Chou left notes in Chinese in his car stating he did not believe Taiwan should be independent from China. He apparently had an issue with Taiwanese people because of the way he was treated while living in Taiwan, Barnes said.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has grown increasingly aggressive about reclaiming the democratic, self-ruled island. Within Taiwan, a majority of people favor maintaining the status quo, with some wanting to openly declare independence and a small minority wanting to someday unify with China.

Chou was born in China and grew up in Taiwan as a socalled “waishengren” — someone with recent roots in China. The Taiwanese Presybterian Church is known for its support of proindependence causes, and the Laguna Woods congregation worshipped in the Taiwanese dialect rather than Mandarin.

Prosecutors allege that Chou entered Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, where the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church rents space, with two 9 mm handguns, several backpacks that contained extra magazines, and four Molotov cocktail-type devices.

He allegedly hid the backpacks in a church banquet hall, chained several doors shut and then mingled with parishioners before opening fire.