Roommate: No warning signs before deadly church attack

SANTA ANA (California): The man that prosecutors call a diabolical and crafty monster who staged a deadly shooting at a Southern California church seemed to be a kind and quiet person who shared his food and proclaimed himself a Christian, his roommate says.

David Wenwei Chou gave no warning that he might be planning such an attack, Jordin Davis of Las Vegas said.

“At this point, and everything that’s happened, I’ve just started to wonder: ‘Did you, David, use your kindness and generosity to hide some very dark secrets?’” Davis asked.

Chou, 68, is accused of opening fire on Sunday afternoon at a lunch gathering of elderly parishioners at Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in the community of Laguna Woods.

A local physician who tried to stop him was killed and five other people were injured before Chou was subdued by church members, authorities said.

Chou had his first court appearance by video link on Tuesday but didn’t enter a plea to charges of murder and attempted murder. His arraignment was continued to June 10. He will be held without bail.

Chou wanted to “execute in cold blood as many people in that room as possible,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in announcing the charges, which include a sentencing enhancement for lying in wait.

If convicted, Chou could face either life in prison or the death penalty, the DA said.

“This monster crafted a diabolical plan to lock the church doors with his victims inside in order to lead what he thought were innocent lambs to slaughter,” Spitzer said.

“But what he didn’t realise was the parishioners at the church that day weren’t lambs – they were lions and they fought back against the evil that tried to infiltrate their house of worship.”

Spitzer said Chou was motivated by hatred for Taiwan, where he was born after his family was forced from mainland China when Communists prevailed in a civil war that ended in 1949.