Los Angeles Times

It could have been any Sunday morning at the Taiwanese church. Elderly couples held hands and shuffled into the chapel. Pastor Albany Lee led the Lord’s Prayer, illuminated by blue light from the stained-glass window behind him. But a week earlier, the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church had been shaken by an unimaginable act. A man opened fire at a luncheon after the morning service, killing one person and injuring five others. The suspect, 68-year-old David Wenwei Chou of Las Vegas, has

A man charged with fatally shooting one person and injuring five others at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods mailed seven volumes titled “Diary of an Independence-Destroying Angel” to the Los Angeles offices of the World Journal, the Chinese-language newspaper reported Wednesday. The newspaper said it had sent the documents to law enforcement and would not be printing their contents. A photo included with the World Journal article showed eight stacks of paper that appeared to be handwritten i

The Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church has never had a home. It started in 1994 in borrowed space in another church in its namesake city. It eventually moved to another borrowed space in a Tustin church before settling at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods in 2012. On Sundays, the Taiwanese group worships at 10 a.m., while the Geneva group gathers separately at 10:30. The 100 or so church members, most of whom are senior citizens, worship in their native language — not Mandarin but

Details are beginning to emerge about what happened inside a Laguna Woods church Sunday after 1 p.m., when a gunman opened fire and some parishioners were able to subdue him and recover two handguns. Authorities said the actions of churchgoers likely saved lives. As of Sunday night, federal and local authorities were still piecing together what happened. A suspect is in custody, but authorities are not sure of a motive. One person died, and five others were injured. Here is a rundown of what w

The churchgoer killed when a gunman opened fire at a Laguna Woods church Sunday was a sports medicine doctor and master of martial arts who was slain while trying to stop the shooting, authorities said Monday. Orange County sheriff’s officials said that when the suspect began shooting, Dr. John Cheng put himself in the line of fire and tried to prevent others from being shot. According to the visiting pastor, Cheng, 52, of Laguna Niguel, was not a regular at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian C

The suspect in a shooting that killed one person and injured five at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods appeared to be motivated by political hatred of Taiwan, officials said Monday. David Wenwei Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, left notes in Chinese in his car stating he did not believe Taiwan should be independent from China, said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes. “We believe, based on what we’ve discovered so far, that he specifically targeted the Taiwanese community, and this is one representation

A gunman attacked a lunch banquet at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and wounding five others Sunday before congregants tackled him, hogtied him with an extension cord and grabbed his two weapons, authorities said. “That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery,” Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said, later adding, “It’s safe to say that had they not intervened this situation could have been much worse.” The violence left the south Orang

After Sheila Kuehl announced she was not seeking reelection to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the political maneuvering began. The jockeying for the open seat intensified after district lines were redrawn in December in a once-in-a-decade process, bringing some conservative-leaning parts of the San Fernando Valley into Kuehl’s 3rd District. That set the stage for Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Henry Stern (D-Malibu), state senators who represent parts of the Valley, to mount campaigns.

A Diamond Bar man who drove his car through a “Stop Asian Hate” rally and yelled racial slurs has been indicted by federal prosecutors. Steve Lee Dominguez, 56, cut off several protesters in a crosswalk, including a 9-year-old, almost hitting them with his black Honda at the March 2021 rally in Diamond Bar, according to prosecutors. Dominguez yelled racial slurs, including “Go back to China” and “F— China,” to protesters, some of whom were Black or Asian American, the indictment said. The ind

Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators are searching for at least four suspects who are believed to have stolen $19,000 worth of luxury watches from two people in West Hollywood early Sunday before fleeing in a black Rolls-Royce. Deputies responded to a battery call in the 8800 block of Sunset Boulevard about 12:52 a.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. At the scene, the deputies heard from the female victim, who said the suspects approached her and the male

Three children were found dead Sunday at a Woodland Hills home where officers responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon, Los Angeles police said. Officers received a 911 call about 7:40 a.m. and rushed to the 22500 block of Victory Boulevard, a residential area in the San Fernando Valley, police said. They found three children, a 12-year-old girl and two 8-year-old boys, who were unresponsive. Paramedics were called and all three children were pronounced dead. The children’s mot

With “California Love” playing in the background, Dr. Dre joined Compton school and community leaders this weekend to break ground on a new, $200-million campus for Compton High School. Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, has given $10 million for the school’s new performing arts center, which can seat more than 900 people. The facility will be named as the “Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young Performing Arts Center,” according to the Compton Unified School District. “I was an artistic kid in school wi

Sunday’s mayoral debate began with a leader of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles being forcibly removed from the auditorium by multiple campus police officers just before cameras started rolling and ended with the candidates sharing their favorite locations to visit in the city. During the intervening 90 minutes, five of the leading candidates for Los Angeles mayor traded arguments and accusations over how to address crime, homelessness, climate change and other issues. At times, they appeared alm

A Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles leader was forcibly removed by campus police from a mayoral debate Sunday night at Cal State Los Angeles. Melina Abdullah — a professor at Cal State L.A. and former chair of the school’s pan-African studies department — told The Times she was carried out of the room by police officers because she did not have a ticket to the event. Protests about the exclusion of certain candidates from the stage preceded the event, and attendance had been closely monitored, wi

For months, Hyepin Im thought about calling Shinese Harlins-Kilgore, but she couldn’t work up the courage. Im wanted to discuss the fatal shooting of Harlins-Kilgore’s cousin, Latasha Harlins, by a Korean-born liquor store owner in 1991. A few weeks ago, Im finally called. The two women hashed out the tensions between Blacks and Koreans that erupted after the killing and the light punishment the store owner received. Those tensions helped fuel the riots that sent Los Angeles up in flames on A

When the city started to burn, James An’s mother was driving her new BMW in South L.A. An was 12 years old, but he knew the luxury car — and her Korean face — could make her a target. He called her car phone and urged her to “get the hell out.” On the radio, he heard business owners pleading for police protection as their livelihoods vanished in front of their eyes. On television, he saw much of Koreatown on fire, including an electronics store he loved, half a mile from his family’s Korean-C

In November, Kevin de León convened a press conference for the Korean-language media. “Annyeonghaseyo” — hello — he greeted the journalists before making the case for why he should be Los Angeles’ next mayor. If elected, he will appoint a Korean American deputy mayor, he said. Last week, another mayoral candidate, Rick Caruso, rolled out Korean-language ads, touting himself as the only one who can “clean up” the city. Karen Bass has met with Filipino and Korean residents, among others, as her

It is a dilemma often faced by debate organizers — where to draw the line between “major” and “minor” candidates. Is it polls, fundraising, political resume or some other “it” factor that determines who will square off onstage? On Tuesday, four candidates for L.A. mayor demanded to be included in a May 1 debate organized by Cal State Los Angeles and the League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles. A poll released Monday showed two clear front-runners — billionaire developer Rick Caruso and

Becky Chen decided it was finally time to talk to her mother about racism. A gunman had just killed eight people, including six of Asian descent, in the Atlanta area. It was the latest in a string of attacks on Asians in the U.S. since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Chen, a student at Arcadia High, was so nervous that she framed the conversation as an interview for an essay she was writing. In addition to anti-Asian racism, she wanted to bring up her mother’s attitudes toward Black people and L

Standing on a debate stage for the first time last week, Rick Caruso said Los Angeles was experiencing some of the worst crime in the city’s history. The statement was not accurate. Not by a long shot. But the sentiment Caruso is trying to convey — that the city is in dire straits, with a populace plagued by fear — is central to his insurgent campaign for mayor. While nowhere near its 1990s peak, violent crime in the city has risen over the last two years. That upswing — along with a string o

A Los Angeles paralegal has agreed to plead guilty to helping a Philippines-based church commit immigration fraud by setting up sham marriages, and whose unwitting victims were then forced to solicit donations in the U.S. to finance the lavish lifestyle of church leaders, federal prosecutors said Friday in court documents. Maria De Leon, a 73-year-old resident in Koreatown who owned and operated Liberty Legal Document Services, could be sentenced to up to five years in federal prison, prosecuto

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, March 16. I’m Jeong Park, a reporter covering Asian American communities, filling in for Justin Ray. Today marks the first anniversary of the Atlanta-area spa shootings in which a gunman killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent. The shootings happened more than 2,000 miles from Los Angeles. But for so many Asian Americans in California, including myself, the attack felt like it happened next door

Two-thirds of Asian Americans in Los Angeles County are worried about being a victim of a racial attack, and a strong majority want police funding increased or kept the same, according to poll results released Tuesday. The poll also found high political engagement, with 92% saying they were very or somewhat likely to vote in this year’s midterm elections. Asian Americans make up 11% of registered voters in L.A. County and 9% in the city of Los Angeles. In a busy and competitive election seaso

Ana Arriaga spent her shift at a Larchmont Village juice shop admiring the return of a small joy she’d learned to live without. “Finally,” she said, “we get to see people’s smiles.” It was midday Friday — half a day since the mask mandate for many indoor locations across the region, including shops, gyms and movie theaters — and Arriaga, a manager at Kreation Organic Juicery, couldn’t help but feel that this was a reassuring step toward a state of normalcy she had long been craving. L.A. Coun

London's Cecil Court contains one of the highest concentrations of antiquarian book and print shops in the world.

Akemi Leung knew her grandfather had been incarcerated at the Poston camp in Arizona during World War II. But he never spoke much about it. Only when she read and watched a video of his testimony at a congressional commission hearing did she learn more about what he suffered as one of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry forced to leave their homes and live in concentration camps. “I just knew him to be a quiet person who liked to observe more than talk,” Leung said. “Seeing th

100s of Rams fans converged in downtown L.A., leading to police crack down Police issued a dispersal order and shot projectiles after some revelers who gathered in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the Rams’ Super Bowl win grew unruly.

Police issued a dispersal order and shot projectiles after some revelers who gathered in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the Rams’ Super Bowl win grew unruly. Many of the hundreds of fans who converged near L.A. Live by 8 p.m., including Michael Gillette, 31, and his partner, just wanted to celebrate with the crowd. “It’s a wild night. We are glad we are here,” he said. “In L.A., we aren’t tearing things down, we are building things back.” But at 11th and Hope streets just before 9 p.m., pol

Julian Ochoa had a lot of pent-up anxiety by the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, and it shot through the roof when Joe Burrow and the Bengals got the ball back with a little over a minute to play. But when the Rams’ defense held firm on fourth down, the stress gave way to pure joy. “That was it,” said Ochoa, a Lynwood native who now lives in Arizona, as blue and gold confetti fell from the rafters. “Game over.” Ochoa traveled to Atlanta to watch his team the last time they played for a title

On a recent Friday night, people clustered outside Quarters Korean BBQ, checking their phones or chatting as they braved the hourlong wait. The restaurant, which occupies a stylish, modern space on 6th Street in Koreatown and serves fusion dishes such as Korean nachos as well as traditional Korean barbecue, is so popular that it has stopped accepting reservations. An outdoor dining area is a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even the Omicron surge has not diminished the crowds waiting to get i