Las Vegas man indicted on 98 charges in fatal California shooting

A Las Vegas man is now facing a slew of federal hate crimes charges after authorities said he drove to a Taiwanese church in California and shot six people there, killing one, last year.

David Wen-Wei Chou, 69, drove from Las Vegas to the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, authorities allege, carrying out the May 2022 attack.

Chou faces 98 federal charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced Thursday. If convicted the maximum penalty is death or life in prison without parole.

A sports medicine physician, Dr. John Cheng, 52, was killed in the attack.

According to a federal grand jury indictment returned Wednesday, Chou, in addition to killing one person, tried to kill 44 others using firearms and explosive devices that he brought into the church.

He was motivated by a “hatred” of the Taiwanese community, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said a day after the shooting.

“Chou allegedly acted because of the victims’ national origin and religion, and he intentionally obstructed the victims’ religious exercise,” the Thursday statement from federal prosecutors said.

Chou faces 45 counts of committing a hate crime, another 45 counts of obstructing a person’s free exercise of religious beliefs, with those sets of charges reflecting the death of Cheng as well as the attempts to kill 44 others. Chou also faces firearms and explosive charges, federal court records show.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.