11th Victim Death toll from Monterey Park mass shooting at California Dance Hall

During the Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California, the gunman allegedly traveled two miles to another dance hall to kill more people.

However, a courageous and unarmed 26-year-old in charge of the box office of Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in Alhambra managed to stop him. Brandon Tsay is hailed as a hero for removing the shooter’s weapon.

“He looked at me and looked around, not hiding that he was trying to do harm. His eyes were menacing,” Tsay shared The New York Times.

The life-or-death fight that led to Tsay taking possession of the gunman’s weapon — which officials described as an “assault pistol” — and the gunman’s escape, can be seen on ballroom surveillance footage that ABC News was able to capture. get hold of.

At a news conference Sunday night, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, “I can tell you that the suspect came in there, probably with the intent to kill more people.”

Tsay stepped in to stop the violence in place of perhaps another unnamed member of the community.

The act of bravery took place when the 11th shooting victim died on Monday. The first names of the victims are also made public. They range in age from the 50’s to the 70’s, but what brought them together was their shared passion for dance.

After a long search, the shooter, who presumably visited the dance studio, was found dead on Sunday afternoon. He was discovered in Torrance, California, about 20 miles from the crime scene. The 72-year-old man committed suicide when police approached his car.

While police are still investigating the motivation, a community leader in Monterey Park suggested the shooter may have been angry about not being invited to a Lunar New Year dance. Earlier on Sunday Luna tweeted photos of the alleged shooterasking for help identifying an Asian person and warning that he should be considered “armed and dangerous”.

At approximately 10:20 p.m. Saturday, the shooting occurred just steps from where tens of thousands of people had gathered for the Lunar New Year festivities in Monterey Park. About 66% of the population of this city of 60,000 is Asian American, with about half of that being of Chinese descent. It is located about nine miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Numerous noodle shops and other businesses serving the Chinese American community can be found in the vicinity of the incident.

“For this to happen at a time when we should be celebrating with family and getting together… is just extremely sad,” Monterey Park City Councilman Thomas Wong told TIME. “I think a lot of us are also angry, tense, and just wondering what to make of this and trying to figure out why this happened, or what happened and trying to find answers where we don’t have them yet.”

This is reported by the Gun Violence Archivethis is the fifth mass murder shooting of the year and the 33rd mass shooting overall.

Here’s what we know so far.

What happened?

At 10:22 p.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was alerted to reports of gunfire in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue, and they were sent to Star Dance Studio.

“When officers arrived at the scene, they saw numerous individuals, patrons … pouring out of the site screaming,” sheriff’s captain Andrew Meyer said at a news conference early Sunday.

When police entered the establishment, they found numerous other victims of the shooting. When the Monterey Park Fire Department arrived, five men and five women were found dead. At least 10 other victims, some of them in serious condition, were taken to nearby hospitals.

No other information has been made public and the victims have not yet been named. According to Luna, the victims are mainly between the ages of 50 and 60, although some may be older.

Hattie Peng, who was in the dance hall during the shooting, told CBS Newss that several people around her were hit. “You could already see the bodies, several are lying there,” she said. Her dance partner, who protected her from the bullets, was hit twice and taken to hospital.

“He was my hero,” she said.

At least 10 people were killed and 10 more injured in a shooting in Monterey Park, California, where the community was celebrating the Lunar New Year.

One resident says he doesn’t feel safe there anymore: “I feel this sense of great loss about the home that I always had.” pic.twitter.com/cmbqMo7Xso

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 23, 2023

Three people rushed into Seung Won Choi’s seafood barbecue restaurant, across the street from the shooting scene. he told the Los Angeles Times and demanded that he lock the door. According to him, the shooter had a lot of ammunition and reloaded his weapon when he ran out.

Upon hearing the news, Edwin Chen, a resident who grew up there, claimed he came from Woodland Hills in a hurry. “This one [was supposed to be] a happy time,” he told the Times. “I want to find out as much as possible. It’s still shocking.”

Police allege the suspect traveled about 20 minutes from the Monterey Park shooting site to the Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in Alhambra, California, about two miles away.

The man struggled with Tsay, dropped his gun and fled. Witnesses also saw a white truck drive away from the site. The suspect was found dead in the van when it was later found in Torrance.

As the investigation progresses, the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is working with the Monterey Park Police, the homicide division of the sheriff’s office.

We recently covered top articles related to Monterey Park Shooting. You can view more posts if you want to read full details on this news:

What is known about the shooter?

According to the authorities, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran is the alleged shooter.

At a press conference held ten hours after the shooting, investigators could only give a general description of the shooter, calling him an “Asian male” between the ages of 30 and 50.

On Sunday afternoon, the sheriff later released footage of the alleged shooter, warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

On Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 10:22 PM, the suspicious man/adult/Asian pictured above was involved in a shooting. Investigators have identified him as a murder suspect and he must be considered armed and dangerous.
For information, contact LASD Homicide at 323-890-5000. pic.twitter.com/2gPUBBybvv

— Robert Luna (@LACoSheriff) January 22, 2023

Police in Torrance found the suspect’s van and stopped it around 10:20 a.m. Sunday morning. “As officers exited their patrol car to contact the occupant, they heard a shot coming from inside the van,” Sheriff Luna said.

Later, a SWAT team determined that the suspect had committed suicide inside. In addition, police discovered evidence in the van that linked the man to the Monterey Park shooting on Saturday night. Luna revealed that they found a gun in the truck and a “Magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol” at the Alhambra scene during a Sunday night press conference. According to Luna, the gun found in Alhambra may be in violation of California law.

Meyer said investigators have no information about a possible motive for the shooting. “We will look at every angle,” he said.

Sheriff Luna said it was possible that this incident would be classified as a hate crime when asked. “We don’t know if this is specifically a hate crime defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and shoots 20 people,” he said Sunday morning.

According to Chester Chong, a Monterey Park community leader, the shooting was not invited to the Lunar New Year party, but his wife was. He claimed jealousy may have played a role in the shooting’s motivation after speaking to witnesses and other local authorities.