LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A waiter at ShangHai Taste in Las Vegas' Chinatown is recovering after he was shot 11 times during an attempted robbery of the restaurant in December. Now, we’re hearing from him directly for the first time.
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Chengyan Wang is incredibly grateful to be both alive and have the support of the Las Vegas community.
“Las Vegas is a beautiful town. The town has a lot of humane folks who really showed up during the pandemic, and I’m really appreciative," Wang said.
Wang loves his fairly new home of Las Vegas. He's worked as a head waiter at ShangHai Taste for just about six months.
“I moved here because my friend, his restaurant needs help, so I moved here to assist the restaurant,” he said.
However, his life changed in December. While working late, he stumbled across a man trying to rob the restaurant.
“When he first entered the restaurant, I wasn’t aware that he was inside for a robbery. I confronted him, and then he shouted and then pulled a gun and started shooting,” he said.
Wang was shot 11 times in various places on his body. He says he’s grateful to be alive and has been working hard through multiple surgeries and physical therapy at a valley rehabilitation hospital.
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“Both of my arms, currently my right arm is more mobile and right now, some of the movement in the fingers are limited,” he said.
Emigrating from China to help support his family, Wang says he has yet to tell them about the shooting — not wanting to add to their stress.
“I didn’t want to tell my parents because of their age. They’re elderly, with their health conditions and also the pandemic,” he said.
The shooting sent shock waves throughout the valley, especially within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. But as the people of Las Vegas are known to do, many stepped in to help Wang, building a feeling of family. More than $100,000 was raised in support of his recovery.
“I’m really grateful for all the love and affection that was shown to me. Also, really grateful for God’s love,” he said.
Wang says he wants to return to work and believes he’ll be back better than ever.
“I would love to put in more enthusiasm to provide for our patrons and for our customers," he said.
Wang's doctors say he’s still recovering well, but there’s so much physical therapy still needed. Right now, there’s no specific timeline for when he could be released from the hospital.
