Chou is in custody at the Orange County Intake Release Center on $1 million bail, jail records show. He is scheduled to appear in Central Jail Court to be arraigned on Tuesday, when he could offer his plea, although the date of that court appearance could change.
All of the injured are expected to survive, the official said. Four of them were struck by gunfire and, initially at least, in critical condition and are from 66 to 92 years old. The fifth victim did not suffer a physical injury.
The shooting occurred at around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, at a post-service lunch for the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which shares the space at Geneva Presbyterian in Laguna Woods. Chou is accused of pulling out a handgun during the lunch and shooting at parishioners, who were able to subdue him, taking away his two guns and hog-tying him with extension cords, authorities said.
Sandria Chou, whose parents were inside Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods when a shooter opened fire, and whose 92-year-old father was one of the victims shot by the gunman and taken to a local hospital, talks with officers as she arrives at the scene on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery,” Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said. Hallock, center, undersheriff with Orange County Sheriff’s Department, answers questions from the media during a press conference near the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022 regarding the shooting at the church that killed one person and critically injured four other people. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Investigators take photos at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, CA following a fatal shooting on Sunday, May 15, 2022. One person was killed and five others were wounded — four of them critically — in a shooting Sunday at a church. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
An Orange County Sheriff’s Officer and canine search the parking lot in front of Geneva Presbyterian Church, looking for possible secondary explosive devices, following a shooting there on Sunday, May 15, 2022 that left one dead and five other injured. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Police and Fire vehicles block the intersection in front of Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods following a shooting there on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
T.I.P. or Trauma Intervention Personnel seen here wearing blue safety vests speak with victims following a mass shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday afternoon May 15th, 2022 (Patrick Smith, Contributing Photogrpaher)
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, right, reads a statement at a press conference near the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022 regarding the shooting at the church that killed one person and critically injured four other people. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sandria Chou, center, speaks the media about her 92-year-old father and 87-year-old mother were among those shot and wounded in the shooting at a Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A counselor attends to a grieving woman, center, outside the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022 where one person died and four people were critically injured in a shooting. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and investigators gather on Calle Sonora after one person died and four people were critically injured in a shooting at a Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
