Police officers stand guard near the scene of Sunday’s deadly shooting in Monterey Park, California. Ten people were killed and 10 others injured at a dance studio near a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday night.
Picture Eric Thayer/Getty
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Picture Eric Thayer/Getty
Police officers stand guard near the scene of Sunday’s deadly shooting in Monterey Park, California. Ten people were killed and 10 others injured at a dance studio near a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday night.
Picture Eric Thayer/Getty
A mass shooting over the weekend at a dance studio in Monterey Park, a city east of Los Angeles, left 10 people dead and 10 others injured.
After an hour-long manhunt, the suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Torrance, about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, officials said. The suspect was identified as Huu Can Tran, a 72-year-old man.
The Saturday night attack takes place in an Asian-American community primarily on the eve of Chinese New Year, after a popular festival in the area. Authorities have yet to identify the victims.
A motive for the shooting is unknown. The FBI and state agencies are also involved in the investigation.
Suspect targeted two separate dance studios
At about 10:22 p.m. local time on Saturday, a gunman opened fire inside the Star Dance Studio, a Chinese-owned ballroom on West Garvey Avenue, less than a block from the Chinese New Year festival venue. full of houses. The first day of the two-day festival has just ended. The event, which officials said drew more than 100,000 people, was canceled following the shooting.
About half an hour after the attack, the same armed man entered another ballroom, Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio, in nearby Alhambra, a few miles away.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the suspect went to the second location with “the intention of killing more people,” but the two successfully disarmed the suspect by snatching the weapon from his hand.
The suspect was using what local authorities said was a loaded assault-style pistol, which Luna said he was unsure of its legal status in the state.
At about 10:20 a.m. Sunday, police saw a white pickup truck in Torrance, Calif. The driver of the truck pulled over and police surrounded it, then heard a gunshot. Authorities withdrew and returned around 12:52 p.m. with assistance, to find Tran inside, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Of the 10 people believed to have died at the scene, five were women and five men, officials said. The injured victims were taken to local hospitals, in stable to critical condition. The victims were all in their 50s or older.
The response of the Asian American community
Monterey Park’s population is over 65% Asian, according to the latest figures from US Census Bureau.
The city of nearly 60,000 residents has just finished its first day of operation Lunar New Year when the shooting happened.
Lunar New Year, which begins on Sunday, is one of the most important festivals in Asian societies, including in Vietnam, China, Korea and Mongolia. Historically, this holiday began on the first full moon of the lunar year, but its start date and origin can vary between cultures.
Thomas Wong, the Monterey Park city council member who represents the area where the shooting occurred, said his community was shocked, saddened and “joyed”.
“Instead of celebrating and reuniting our families for a hopeful and prosperous new year, we started it off with a senseless tragedy,” Wong told NPR.
Leader replied
Monterey Mayor Park Henry Lo offers condolences to the shooting victims and their families at a press conferenceand said, “In the future, it’s important that we be there for them, providing the services and support they need, during the healing period of weeks, months, if not more.” many years to come.”
Monterey Park has established a memorial at city hall and a survivor center at a local senior center.
President Biden was informed of the shooting.
“Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s mass shooting in Monterey Park. I am closely monitoring this situation as it develops and urge the community to follow guidance. of local officials and law enforcement in the coming hours,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was in Monterey Park after the shooting.
“The strength of this community is amazing,” he say. “There is no other country in the world terrorized by this constant stream of gun violence. We need real gun reform at the national level.
Police Department in San FranciscoNew York City, Philadelphia and Houston said it would increase the presence of officers at Lunar New Year events in the wake of the mass shooting.
The Monterey Park shooting comes amid a year of violence for the United States
The country has seen at least 33 mass shootings in 2023 alone, according to data compiled by Gun Violence Archive.
The archive defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are injured or killed, other than the shooter.
