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Exploring Motives in California Shooting That Killed 10 at Lunar New Year Celebrations

Monterey Park, California — Authorities investigated the motive The gunman who killed 10 people at a ballroom dance in the Los Angeles area It sent a wave of terror into the region’s Asian-American community and overshadowed festivals across the country.

Authorities said the suspect attempted a second shot on Saturday night but was found dead on Sunday from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a van he fled after people stopped him.

The massacre was the fifth mass murder in the country this month. It was also the worst attack since his May 24th, when 21 people were killed. Died at elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the man had been identified as 72-year-old Fu Kang Trang and that no other suspects were on the run. Ten people were injured in the attack, seven of whom are still hospitalized.

At a press conference Sunday night, sheriffs said they weren’t sure of the exact ages of those killed, but they all appeared to be over 50.

The suspect was carrying what Luna described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second handgun was found in the van where Tran died.

Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wease said officers arrived at Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio within three minutes of receiving the call on Sunday night. We found people trying to escape from every door.

“(It was) chaos when they entered the parking lot,” Wiese said.

Mass shooting in Monterey Park
A Monterey Park police officer stands outside the Star Dance Studio where gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 10 more in Monterey Park, California on January 22, 2023.

Phillip Chang for The Washington Post via Getty Images


About 20 to 30 minutes after the initial attack, the gunmen broke into the Lai Lai Ballroom in the nearby city of the Alhambra. According to Luna, people took weapons from him and witnesses said he fled in a white van.

“He came in there with a firearm and a few people took the firearm away from him and the man took off,” Luna said Sunday.

The van was found in the city of Torrance, another community with a large Asian-American population, about 22 miles from the second location.

Luna said early Sunday that law enforcement was dealing with a “barricade suspect situation” in Torrance.Luna said police pulled over a white van at 10:20 a.m. local time Sunday. The van then pulled over in a shopping center parking lot, and Luna said police heard one shot from inside the vehicle. Officers in tactical gear and armor approached the van at 12:52 p.m. and found the suspect dead.

A dramatic scene involving the van was captured by a news helicopter with multiple armored vehicles positioned in front of, beside and behind the van, with officers in uniform and bulletproof vests in the back of one of the patrol cars. . After surrounding the vehicle for hours, law enforcement officers swarmed inside. A human body appears to have fallen over the wheels and was later removed. SWAT team members looked through the contents of the van before leaving.

usa-crime-shooting-standoff
Law enforcement personnel are seen outside the Torrance, Calif., site where a shooting suspect who killed 10 people in Monterey Park, Calif., on Jan. 22, 2023, is believed to be trapped.

Robin Beck/AFP via Getty Images


Monterey Park is a city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles with a population of about 60,000, mostly made up of Asian immigrants from China or first-generation Asian Americans. The shooting occurred in the heart of the downtown area, where red lanterns adorned the streets for the Chinese New Year celebrations. A police car was parked near a large banner proclaiming “Happy Year of the Rabbit!”

Mass shooting in Monterey Park
On January 22, 2023, police cars in Monterey Park, California, blocked an intersection near the Star Dance Studio (not pictured). At this location, the shooter killed 10 of him and he wounded 10 more. The shooting occurred late the night before.

Phillip Chang for The Washington Post via Getty Images


The celebration at Monterey Park is one of the largest in California. In the past few years he has planned his two-day celebration which has been attended by as many as 100,000 people. But authorities canceled Sunday’s event following the shooting.

Tony Lai, 35, of Monterey Park, went for an early morning walk and was stunned to discover that the noise he heard at night was gunshots.

“I thought maybe it was fireworks. I thought it might have something to do with Chinese New Year,” he said. “And there aren’t many fireworks here either. It’s weird to see this. It’s really safe here. We’re in the middle of the city, but it’s really safe.”

The massacre shocked Asian-American communities across the country, prompting police from San Francisco to New York to step up patrols at Lunar New Year celebrations in their respective cities.

Advocacy groups for Asian Americans said it was another blow after years of high-profile anti-Asian violence across the country. The impact on the community is very serious,” said Connie Zhang Zhou, CEO of the nonprofit Asian American Advance Justice Southern California.

10 dead in California Lunar New Year shooting
Community members hold a vigil at Monterey Park City Hall for the victims of the deadly January 22, 2023 shooting. Ten people died and he injured another 10 at a dance studio in Monterey Park near the Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday night.

Eric Thayer/Getty Images


Federal agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting local police, and White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had an update on the shooting.

“Jill and I are thinking of those killed and wounded in last night’s deadly Montraper shooting,” Biden said in a statement Sunday night. “There’s still a lot we don’t know about, but I know many families are either grieving tonight or praying for a loved one to recover from their wounds.”

Biden ordered the flag to be flown at half mast until sunset on Thursday.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Instagram that he visited Monterey Park on Sunday.

“The power of this community is incredible. No country in the world is threatened by this constant gun violence. We need real gun reform at the national level,” Newsom said.

According to CNN, Tran’s ex-wife said she met Tran at the Star Ballroom about 20 years ago and said, “Tran never assaulted her, but he could get mad quickly.” . CNN also reported that “Tran’s second longtime acquaintance also remembered him frequently at the dance studio.”

Local resident Wong Wei said, los angeles times His friend was at the dance studio and she was in the bathroom when the shooting happened. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw the gunman and her three dead bodies.

10 dead in California Lunar New Year shooting
A makeshift memorial can be seen at Monterey Park City Hall for the victims of the January 22, 2023, fatal shooting in Monterey Park, California. Ten people were killed and another 10 injured at a dance studio in Monterey Park near the Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday night.

/ Getty Images


Afterwards, the friend fled to his home around 11:00 p.m. “They don’t know why, so they run away,” he told the newspaper.

Peter Fong, a friend of “Mr. Ma”, one of the dance studio instructors, told CBS News that “Mr. Ma” was among those killed in the shooting. As of Sunday night, no victims had been officially identified.

Luna said a victim center had been set up on Sunday afternoon and urged anyone who suspected the family had been at the dance hall to go.

A GoFundMe account was set up for “the many individuals suffering from this senseless violence.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monterey-park-mass-shooting-california-motive-lunar-new-year-celebrations/ Exploring Motives in California Shooting That Killed 10 at Lunar New Year Celebrations

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