A mass shooting at Star Ballroom Dancing Studio in Monterey Park during a Lunar New Year celebration left at least 10 dead and injured 10 more, who were rushed to the hospital, on Saturday night.
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said “a male Asian suspect” walked into a dance hall in Alhambra near the location of the mass shooting, where people wrestled the gun away from the suspect before he fled the scene in a white van.
Officials believe the two incidents were related, that the gunman left the dance studio in Monterey Park to go to the dance hall in Alhambra.
Monterey Park police officers responded “to a shots fired call” at approximately 10:22 p.m. Saturday night, Luna said at a briefing Sunday morning. They arrived on scene to find victims and patrons gathered outside in the parking lot.
Responders from the Monterey Park Fire Department pronounced 10 people deceased at the scene, with 10 more injured and transported to different hospitals, ranging in conditions from stable to critical.
The Los Angeles Police Department has released photos of the suspect, describing an Asian male in a knitted hat with flaps and wearing glasses, aged between 30 and 50 years old, “considered armed and dangerous.”
Officials have not yet confirmed the motive of the mass shooting, nor whether it was an act of a hate crime.
Long Beach State President Jane Close Conoley released a statement to the campus community, offering those who were connected “to the horrific mass shooting” to text “BEACH to 741741” for assistance.
“It’s so sad that this event has tainted what should have been a joyous celebration of the Lunar New Year. Just devastating,” Conoley said in an email.
Many political and local leaders reacted to the mass shooting, regarding it as “devastating” and “horrific.”
“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,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Twitter statement. “Our hearts mourn as we learn more about the devastating acts of last night. We are monitoring the situation closely.”
President Joe Biden responded the mass shooting on Twitter, where he said, “Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park.”
Police cars and SWAT vans have surrounded a white cargo van in a standoff in Torrance Sunday morning, which they believe to contain the mass shooter suspect. SWAT members broke into the van that afternoon and pulled out a dead body, according to NBC News, which may “possibly” be the Monterey shooting suspect.