Investigators, Community Search for Answers in Monterey Park Shooting
What should have been a joyous celebration of the Lunar New Year has ended in unspeakable tragedy. Our hearts go out to the Asian American community and the devastated families in Monterey Park, California. — PBS SoCal | KCET
MONTEREY PARK (CNS) - Eleven people were killed and at least 10 others were wounded in a mass shooting at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday night.
The attack occurred at 10:22 p.m. Saturday at the Star Dance Studio in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue, Homicide Bureau Capt. Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told reporters at the scene during an early morning news conference.
Ten people were pronounced dead at the scene and the 10 injured were listed in stable to critical condition at area hospitals including Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, Meyer said. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the 10 dead were five men and five women.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, one of the four patients who was being treated at County-USC Medical Center has died from "extensive injuries,'' raising the death toll to 11.
Luna described the victims, living and dead, as "in their 50s, 60s and beyond."
On Monday morning, the Los Angeles County coroner's office identified two of the women killed as My Nhan, 65, and Lilan Li, 63. The names of the other nine fatally wounded victims were withheld, pending notification of their relatives.
About 17 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, the gunman walked into the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the 100 block of South Garfield Avenue in neighboring Alhambra with a gun, but some people wrestled the weapon away from him and he fled, Luna said.
Brandon Tsay, the operator of a dance hall in California, is being praised as a hero after he disarmed the shooter who killed 10 people in Monterey Park, saving countless lives and averting another tragedy. https://t.co/VFYmLeEIjm pic.twitter.com/ARLghFuY7O
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 23, 2023
Luna speculated that the gunman was going to try to kill more people, "But two brave community members jumped into action and took his gun away," he said, adding that the shooter then escaped.
At a Sunday evening news conference, Luna identified the shooter as Huu Can Tran, saying he took his own life after he pulled his white van into a Torrance strip mall and was stopped by law enforcement Sunday.
In an attempt to reassure the frightened community, some of whom would only speak to media anonymously, Luna said, "The suspect responsible for this tragedy is no longer a threat."
A handgun was recovered from the white van he had been driving, along with other potential evidence linking him to the killings.
Luna told the New York Times the magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol used in the shooting was probably not legal to own in California. He said the license plates on the van Tran was driving were not legal, and were probably stolen.
The motive for Saturday's attack has not been released. There are reports, however, that cite law enforcement as saying the man had been looking for his wife.
Chester Chong, chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce L.A., told ABC7 he believed it was a domestic violence incident.
"Sometimes, the wife go (to the dance studio) and the husband does not go," Chong said. "That's why he's so upset, and because we have so many guns, it's too easy to bring a gun over there to kill people. It's horrible, it's very sad."
"This is not a hate crime, this is not," Chong said. "This case is a personal case."
The Monterey Park shooting occurred about an hour after thousands of people had been in the area for the first day of a two-day Lunar New Year festival that had ended before the shots were fired. Most of the crowds had already left the area.
Fox 11 reported that Riverside County sheriffs deputies, U.S. Marshals and Hemet police served a search warrant at a home inside a senior living community in Hemet where Tran lived alone. Neighbors expressed surprise that he was responsible for the massacre and one neighbor told the station he believed Tran was a ballroom dance instructor.
More About Monterey Park
The city of Monterey Park canceled Sunday's planned second day of the two-day celebration, but other holiday events were still planned throughout Southern California. Luna said at a Sunday morning news conference that he would be attending a similar event in a few hours, and encouraged the public to continue celebrating the holiday.
"The City of Monterey Park is saddened to announce that there was a shooting incident that occurred at 122 West Garvey in the City of Monterey Park late on Saturday, January 21," officials said. "The City expresses condolences to the individuals, families, and friends who were injured in this tragic incident. Even though the incident did not occur at the 2023 Lunar New Year Festival, an active investigation is currently underway and the area near and around the festival is affected."
In light of the shooting, the USC Pacific Asia Museum canceled its Lunar New Year Festival that was scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday.
"All of us at USC PAM are heartbroken to hear about the horrific violence that happened in our home in the San Gabriel Valley," Museum Director Bethany Montagano said. "Our hearts mourn with the victims' families and our community members at this time."
When Monterey Park police officers arrived they saw numerous patrons pouring out of the business, screaming, Meyer said. He said detectives will review surveillance video and "work every lead in the case."
My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by last night's shooting in the @CityofMPK. On behalf of @LASDHQ I offer my most sincere condolescences to the victim's families. I stand in solidarity with the AAPI community and will work tirelessly to bring justice to the victims
— Robert Luna (@LACoSheriff) January 22, 2023
Seung Won Choi, who owns a seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from the shooting site, told the Los Angeles Times that three people rushed into his restaurant and told him to lock the door because a man with a semiautomatic gun was in the area, The Times reported.
They told Choi the shooter had multiple rounds of ammunition and was able to reload his weapon, according to the paper.
Video from the scene showed first responders from other jurisdictions helping their Monterey Park counterparts. Patrol vehicles from Alhambra and El Monte were observed as well as an ambulance from South Pasadena.
Saturday's mass shooting included the most victims in Los Angeles County since 2008, when a disgruntled ex-husband killed 10 people, including himself, in Covina. It is the deadliest shooting in the U.S. since the massacre in Uvalde, Texas in May.
Monterey Park has a population of about 61,000, roughly 66% of whom are Asian. Witnesses said several of Saturday's victims were senior citizens who appeared to be Asian.
About 50% of Alhambra's population of nearly 82,000 is Asian.
School districts in the Monterey Park area made plans for Monday to deal with fallout from the attack. Alhambra Unified School District schools will have a no pupil day Monday, according to its website.
Message of Condolence and Support Plan For Robert Hill Lane Elementary School pic.twitter.com/z4xAVOveNv
— LAUSD Region East (@LASchoolsEast) January 22, 2023
The Los Angeles Unified School District said on its website it will offer mental health support and keep additional police patrols at Robert Hill Lane Elementary School in Monterey Park.
The Montebello Unified School District announced it would have additional police patrols at all schools bordering the Monterey Park and Alhambra areas and that it had mental health professionals ready to support students, families and staff as needed.
Anyone with further information about the shooting was asked to call sheriff's homicide detectives at 323-890-5500 or leave anonymous tips on the Crime Stoppers line at 800-222-8477.
