On January 22, 2023, Monterey Park—in the Los Angeles area—was the scene of a mass shooting as Huu Can Tran (72) shot and killed 10 people and injured 10 others. The shootings occurred at a ballroom dance club that was hosting Lunar New Year festivities.
Authorities in California Continue the Search for Answers Following Monterey Park Shooting During Lunar New Year
The rampage occurred on a cultural holiday observed within the Los Angeles area’s Asian communities. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, reports came in of an individual—later identified as Huu Can Tran—wielding a semi-automatic pistol. It appears that the venue Tran targeted—the Star Ballroom Dance Studio—was entertaining an older crowd as those killed by Tran were all over 50 years of age.
When authorities arrived on the scene roughly three minutes later, they found people fleeing the venue as well as those shot by Tran. Several minutes into the shooter, Tran would move on to the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra. There he ran into 26-year-old Brandon Tsay in the lobby. Tsay’s family owns and operates the Lai Lai Ballroom.
In speaking with ABC News, Tsay recounted his actions in wrestling the gun away from Tran:
“Something came over me. I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him, I needed to take this weapon, disarm him or else everybody would have died. When I got the courage, I lunged at him with both my hands, grabbed the weapon and we had a struggle.”
Tsay managed to get the shooter to leave the ballroom before contacting the police. Tran returned to his van and headed to the city of Torrance. Los Angeles County authorities tracked Tran’s van down and closed in cautiously before finding that the shooter had been dead for some time of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo shared what he could from what investigators discovered so far and stressed that this event is still under investigation:
“We do understand that he may have had a history of visiting this dance hall and perhaps the motivation has to do with some personal relationships. But that’s something that I think investigators are still uncovering and investigating.”
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