Police seize weapons, ammunition from Mineola home of Wen-Lone Chou, who allegedly ran shooting range near schools

Law-enforcement officials seized assault weapons, a ghost gun, high-capacity magazines, gun components and 6,000 rounds of ammunition while executing a search warrant at a Mineola home on Wednesday, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Wen-Lone Chou, whose yard borders a Mineola School district soccer field and is close to Chaminade High School and Jackson Avenue School had operated a makeshift shooting range in the basement of his Marcellus Road home, Donnelly said in a news conference on Thursday.

"All of this activity is extremely dangerous," Donnelly said. "All of it is illegal. But what I want to stress is that even more terrifying is that this illegal, dangerous activity was happening steps away from several schools. Hundreds of children going in and out of these schools every day."

Chou was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead on Thursday.

District Court Judge Ryan Cronin ordered Chou detained in lieu of $250,000 cash bail, $625,000 bond or $1.25 million partially secured bond. He is scheduled to return to court on March 5. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Donnelly said the Homeland Security Investigation’s Task Force, which includes the Nassau Sheriff’s Department, New York State Police, the NYPD and several federal agencies, began investigating Chou last year after learning that he had gone on a shopping spree for firearm parts.

"For more than a year, this defendant allegedly bought dozens of firearm parts in a purchasing pattern that amounted to an immediate red flag for law enforcement. Our analysis led us to one conclusion: this defendant was assembling his own gun and possibly more," Donnelly said.