New documents show that David Wenwei Chou, 68, worked as a security guard in the years leading up to his shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods.
The shooting took place on Sunday at approximately 1:30 PM at a post-service luncheon at the church. During the lunch, Chou opened fire on parishioners.
As Chou was shooting, several parishioners were able to restrain Chou. They were able to tackle him to the floor and took away two guns he had on him. According to authorities, they proceeded to hog-tie Chou with extension cords.
In the melee, Chou killed Dr. John Cheng - one of the people that tackled Chou before he was shot. Four other individuals were injured by the gunfire, ages range from 66 to 92-years old.
We now have more information on the shooter.
Chou worked as a security guard in the years leading up to the shooting. According to documents from Nevada's Private Investigator Licensing Board, in the span of seven years (2014-2021), he worked as an armed security guard at five different companies. He had a license that allowed him to carry a firearm.
Documents also show that Chou did pass a guard licensing test and was slated to requalify with use of a firearm in October.
Between 2011-2018, he owned a duplex in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal tried to obtain some interviews with some of his previous neighbors. Many declined to comment, but one did mention that Chou was a "grumpy" landlord. He would argue with his neighbors/tenants about parking spots.
He drove from Las Vegas to Orange County to commit this shooting. He was apparently at the church for hours prior to opening fire and blocked all the exits with chairs and filling key holes with superglue. Though a motive is unknown, one of the believed motives mentioned by authorities was "political tensions between China and Taiwan".
He is currently being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.