Doctor John Cheng: A Hero Dies Saving Lives in Southern Cal Church Shooting

By Chris Grollnek, Active Shooter Expert · Active Shooter Prevention Project, LLC (ASPP™)

The world lost a hero on Sunday when Dr. John Cheng died saving others at a church in Southern California. Known as simply “Dr. John” by all who knew him, he was a family and sports medicine physician who also mentored kids in kung fu and taught the importance of self-defense. Dr. John was concerned about the increasing number of mass shootings and had taken safety courses to prepare for such situations. His calm demeanor and training likely made him a hero when a gunman entered the church and began firing. Dr. John’s quick action saved potentially dozens of lives at the church luncheon attended by mostly older Taiwanese people, including his recently widowed mother. The shooter, motivated by hatred of Taiwan, had no connection to the church but targeted the large group of Taiwanese attendees. When the shooter began firing, Dr. John charged him and was shot but his bravery disrupted the shooter and prevented further casualtiesDr. John lived a life of selflessness, always looking for ways to protect people. He introduced himself to the community as their new family doctor by knocking on doors, gave physicals to student athletes and donated the money he earned to the high school, and taught kung fu to those around him to help them protect themselves. He was remembered by his patients as a kind and concerned listener and by his friends as someone who didn’t want to feel helpless in a world where people were losing their minds and shooting others for no reason. In a world filled with so much violence and hate, it is heroes like Dr. John who remind us of the good that still exists. He died a hero, and his selflessness and bravery will never be forgotten. It is a meeting of good versus evil, as Sheriff Don Barnes put it, and Dr. John’s selfless love for others stopped a hate-filled act from claiming more lives.

Chris Grollnek, Active Shooter Expert

Read more about this topic in the article by Amy Taxin and Julie Watson. Doctor who fought church gunman remembered as kind protector May 18, 2022  

What made him ready when it happened?

He had thought about it first. That is the whole answer, and it is easy to miss because it sounds too simple. He had taken courses. He had taught self-defense to other people. He had looked at what was happening in the country and decided in advance that he would not be a bystander.

Nobody makes that decision in the four seconds after the first shot. It gets made months earlier, quietly, by a person who was willing to imagine the room.

Why does a congregation carry different exposure?

A church, a synagogue, a mosque and a temple are open by doctrine. Turning a stranger away runs against the entire point of the place, which is why standard advice about controlling access lands badly in a house of worship and is often ignored.

The workable answer is not a locked door. It is a named person who owns a concern when someone raises one, a written route for that concern to travel, and a congregation that knows both exist. We set that out in house of worship security.

What does the evidence say about the window before?

The FBI studied the pre-attack behaviors of active shooters and found that each one displayed roughly four to five observable concerning behaviors over weeks and months before the attack, most often seen by classmates, coworkers, teachers and family rather than by police. Across the 528 active shooter incidents recorded between 2000 and 2024, that pattern holds.

Which is the uncomfortable half of this story. Somebody was ready in the room that day, and that mattered enormously. Somebody was also likely uneasy about the attacker long before it, and that went nowhere.

Give the worry somewhere to go

Ask your leadership one question: if a member were worried about someone this week, who would they tell, and what is that person obliged to do about it? If the answer takes longer than a sentence, that is the gap. A documented vulnerability assessment finds the rest, and the work of an active shooter expert lives in that earlier stretch rather than on the day.

Where does this fit in the P.R.O. Model™?

The P.R.O. Model™ is Prevention, Response, Options, in that order, selected by the U.S. Department of Justice as “A” national standard for 2022–2025 and again for 2026–2030, then in use at some installations and commands across the Department of Defense. Dr. John lived the O. He had options because he had prepared. The layer that could have kept him from ever needing them is the P, and that is the layer most organizations skip. The buyer’s version of that argument is at prevention vs response.

Sources
Federal Bureau of Investigation. A Study of the Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters in the United States Between 2000 and 2013. 2018.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Active shooter incident reports, 2000 through 2024.
U.S. Department of Justice, P.R.O. Model™ selection, 2022–2025 and 2026–2030.