On May 15, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, during a luncheon held after a Sunday service for a visiting congregation, the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church. Between 30 and 40 people were present. According to witness accounts, a man entered the sanctuary before the service, was asked by a receptionist to fill out a form, refused, and mingled with attendees, speaking to some in Taiwanese Hokkien. He sat through the sermon reading a newspaper. After the service, as guests gathered in a separate hall for a luncheon, some who left early saw him attempting to chain the doors shut; some assumed he was a security officer.
The man then fired a shot into the ceiling, which some attendees initially mistook for a balloon popping. As people took cover, attendee John Cheng, a 52-year-old physician who had accompanied his mother to the event, charged at the shooter in an attempt to disarm him and was shot and killed. As the gunman tried to reload, Pastor Billy Chang struck him with a chair, and several attendees then tackled and restrained him with an extension cord, recovering two handguns. Police were alerted around 1:26 p.m. and found the doors chained shut with glued locks, along with four items resembling Molotov cocktails inside the building.
Five other victims, all of Taiwanese descent and aged between 66 and 92 — four men and one 86-year-old woman — were shot and survived their injuries.
A suspect, 68-year-old David Wenwei Chou of Las Vegas, was arrested at the scene. Chou was born in Taiwan in 1953 and later lived in Las Vegas, where associates through Taiwanese community organizations described him as holding pro-unification views that put him at odds with a largely pro-independence community. Sheriff Don Barnes said handwritten notes recovered from Chou's vehicle expressed hatred toward Taiwanese people and a belief that Taiwan should not be independent from China. Chou reportedly mailed a manifesto to a newspaper before the attack, which arrived after the shooting occurred.
Chou was charged with one count of murder, five counts of premeditated attempted murder, and four counts of possessing an explosive device, along with sentencing enhancements for lying in wait and personal discharge of a firearm causing death. On June 17, 2022, prosecutors added hate crime enhancements to the murder and attempted murder charges. He has been held without bail and could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted on the state charges. In May 2023, Chou was indicted on 98 federal charges, including hate crimes and weapons offenses.
The shooting prompted condemnation from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's de facto ambassador Hsiao Bi-khim, the Kuomintang, and Chinese foreign ministry and embassy spokespersons, as well as U.S. elected officials. On May 21, 2022, local officials and religious leaders held a memorial at the church, and legislation was later proposed to posthumously award John Cheng the Congressional Gold Medal.
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