The California city is in shock after 11 people were killed and at least 10 others were wounded in a mass shooting in Monterey Park. The shooting occurred as thousands had gathered for a Lunar New Year festival on Saturday night.
Five men and five women were fatally shot and 10 more were injured while one of the victims being treated at County-USC Medical Center has died from “extensive injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. All but one of the victims were 60 or older, according to information released Monday.
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.
After an hours-long manhunt, a SWAT team pinned that van in a parking lot in Torrance, some 30 miles from the scene of the shootings. As officers neared the van, they heard one shot and discovered that the 72-year-old Huu Can Tran had shot himself, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Police and investigators are now working to determine the motive behind the mass shooting, according to Luna.
The sheriff’s department released images of the suspect apparently taken from surveillance camera footage showing him wearing spectacles, dressed in a dark jacket and a dark beanie hat with a white stripe.
President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the victims following the mass shooting and ordered flags to fly at half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings.
“Monterey Park should have had a night of joyful celebration of the Lunar New Year. Instead, they were the victims of a horrific and heartless act of gun violence,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
The shootings during Lunar New Year celebrations sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities.
For those who are unfamiliar, Monterey Park is a city in LA County that is majority AAPI. It's home of Asian American families, parents, grandparents, siblings, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. All of whom were looking forward to celebrating the New Year this weekend.
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 22, 2023
Gun violence
It is only the 22nd day of the year, and the Monterey Park mass shooting marked the 33rd mass shooting so far this year at the time it occurred, according to the nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive. California has the country’s strongest gun laws and it remains unclear where or how the Monterey Park mass shooter obtained the weapon recovered in Alhambra.
California Governor Gavin Newsom met with local leaders of Monterey Park and called for “real gun reform” at the national level hours after the deadly mass shooting.
What to know about Monterey Park shooting
- Shooting left 11 dead and at least 10 injured.
- The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Authorities are still searching for a motive.
- President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. flags at federal public buildings to be flown at half-staff.
