Monterey Park Mass Shooting Coverage
Published: Jan. 23, 2023
Monterey Park mass shooting death toll now at 11
The Lunar New Year mass shooting in Monterey Park was one of the deadliest in Southern California history.
At 10:20 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2023, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran walked into a Monterey Park ballroom and killed 11 people at a Lunar New Year celebration, one of the most festive nights of the year. At another San Gabriel Valley dance studio in Alhambra, his gun was wrestled away from him. About 12 hours later, he was pulled over by police in Torrance, and then shot himself in the head.
The staff of the Southern California News Group was reporting from the scene within hours of the shooting and throughout the aftermath.
For the latest coverage of the Monterey Park mass shooting, click here
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
10 killed in Monterey Park mass shooting as Lunar New Year is celebrated
Ten people were killed and at least 10 others were injured Saturday night, Jan. 21, in a mass shooting in a Monterey Park ballroom as residents celebrated the Lunar New Year, and the shooter is at large, officials said.
It happened after the city’s Lunar New Year celebration of the “Year of the Rabbit” downtown. The shooting was reported in a ballroom at 122 W. Garvey Ave., near the intersection of Garvey and Garfield avenues.
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
72-year-old identified in Monterey Park mass shooting killed himself in Torrance, authorities say
A 72-year-old Hemet man was identified late Sunday afternoon as the gunman who opened fire in a dance hall in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 10 people and wounding at least 10 others.
Huu Can Tran, the suspect, later shot and killed himself when he was pulled over in the van he was driving by police in Torrance, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Published: Jan. 23, 2023
Shooter fired 42 rounds in Monterey Park massacre — motive not yet known
Authorities on Monday, Jan. 23, described the gunman who fired 42 times to kill 11 people at a Monterey Park dance studio late Saturday as heavily armed — whose Hemet home included a rifle, ammunition and materials used to make guns.
Published: Jan. 25, 2023
Why Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay were — and weren’t — typical mass shootings
Picture a mass shooter and an angry, racist, young and disturbed White male might come to mind.
The aging Asian men accused of this week’s mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay don’t fit that profile.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Monterey Park shooter likely motivated by hatred toward dance studio instructors, his former tenant says
Huu Can Tran harbored a deep hatred for instructors at the Star Dance Studio where he killed 11 patrons and wounded nine others Saturday, delusionally believing they were jealous of him, a man who rented a small home from the gunman said Tuesday.
Published: Jan. 23, 2023
‘I lunged at him’: How 26-year-old disarmed Monterey Park shooter at Alhambra dance studio
Festivities were about to wrap up at the Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in Alhambra late Saturday night when Brandon Tsay heard the front door open and saw a man with a gun walk inside — now identified by law enforcement as the person who had just fatally shot 10 people at a dance studio in nearby Monterey Park.
“My first thought was I was going to die here, this is it,” the 26-year-old Tsay told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Retired San Gabriel police lieutenant injured in Monterey Park mass shooting called one of the best
One of those injured in the crowd during the Monterey Park mass shooting was James Goodman, a retired San Gabriel police lieutenant who served that city for nearly 30 years.
On Tuesday, San Gabriel police visited Goodman at the hospital where he’s receiving treatment for gunshot wounds to the foot and shoulder, said interim San Gabriel Police Chief chief Riki Nakamura. Even amid his “significant” injuries, Nakamura said, Goodman was in “great spirits,” adding that he is expected to recover and will likely require some physical therapy.
Nakamura said Goodman was injured when he stepped in to protect others in the Star Ballroom Dance Studio Saturday night.
How to help
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
How to help people, families affected by Monterey Park mass shooting
Individuals can support people and families affected by the Monterey Park shooting on Saturday, Jan. 21, by donating directly to verified fundraisers on GoFundMe.
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
Monterey Park officials launch resource center for survivors and family of mass shooting victims
Following the deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park on Saturday, Jan. 21, that took the lives of 10 people and injured 10 others, a survivor resource center was established at a senior citizen center to provide aid to victims and families on Sunday.
Published: Jan. 23, 2023
These are the victims in the Monterey Park mass shooting
The 11 victims in Saturday night’s mass shooting in Monterey Park ranged in age from their 50s to their 70s, according to early information released Monday, Jan. 23.
Among the dead were people who relished their time at what was a beloved Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park. The hub was known as a place where many students of Chinese descent came together around Latin dancing.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Monterey Park shooting victim Ming Wei Ma was ‘the heart’ of Star Ballroom Dance Studio
Ming Wei Ma, a dance instructor known as the heart and soul of Star Ballroom Dance Studio, was among the 11 killed in the Monterey Park mass shooting and died trying to protect others, according to friends and reports.
Friends said Ma, 72, was killed at the popular Garvey Avenue studio on Saturday night, Jan. 21, where he and a group of fellow dancers had gathered for a social event on the night of Lunar New Year, which drew thousands to the downtown area.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Diana Tom ‘went out of her way to give to others,’ family says
Diana Tom clung to life for 24 hours at LAC+USC Medical Center before becoming the 11th casualty in the mass shooting in Monterey Park.
She died from critical injuries on Sunday, Jan. 22.
Tom, a former pharmacy technician, always went out of her way to give to others, said family members via a statement.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Valentino Alvero was the ‘life of any party’
Valentino Alvero is being remembered for his love of ballroom dancing, community and his family.
Alvero, 68, was also the “life of any party,” his family wrote in a statement, Monday, Jan. 23.
“While this is not the news we hoped, the unbearable unknown is over. Thank you to those who shared + reached out,” Karmel Kwan, his niece, wrote on Twitter. “Take care of each other + may our weary hearts find peace.”
Published: Jan. 25, 2023
Wen-Tau Yu was pursuing a second career in retirement
Wen-Tau Yu was still pursuing new goals at 64 years old, his son said in an interview with the New York Times.
Yu immigrated to the United States from Taiwan and had worked as a manager for an agricultural company, his son, Szu Fa Yu told the newspaper.
Published: Jan. 25, 2023
‘Mymy was our biggest cheerleader’
My Nhan was a regular at the Star Ballroom for more than a decade, choosing the Los Angeles-area dance hall popular with older Asian Americans as the place to “start the year fresh” with Lunar New Year celebrations, her niece said.
Her family now takes some solace knowing that Nhan, one of 11 people shot and killed in Monterey Park by a gunman Saturday night, died after an evening of doing what she loved.
Published: Jan. 25, 2023
Hongying Jian was known as ‘Sister Sunshine’
Qiang Bjornbak first met Hongying Jian at the Mandarin Baptist Church in Alhambra. The two women connected again by coincidence when a client of Bjornbak’s turned out to be friends with Jian.
Jian went by her married name, Nancy Liu. And, said Bjornback, people also called her friend something else: “Sister Sunshine.”
Published: Jan. 26, 2023
Muoi Dai Ung was a lot like Monterey Park, and ‘easy to love’
Muoi Dai Ung, a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee, didn’t live in Monterey Park, but she felt a strong connection with the city.
“Much like our community she was complicated, messy, easy to love and sometimes hard to understand from the outside,” her family said in a statement. “She loved going to Monterey Park not only because she loved to dance. She came to Monterey Park because this is where her community was … she knew this is where the heart of the Asian American community beats strongest.”
Monterey Park
Published: Jan. 23, 2023
Monterey Park looks for answers in aftermath of deadly mass shooting
The morning after a chaotic, heartbreaking Sunday spent responding to the shocking attack on a Monterey Park dance hall — the investigation ending with a suicide in a shopping center parking lot on the other side of the county — law enforcement and local leaders alike on Monday, Jan. 23, will strive to find the answers to the myriad questions left in the aftermath of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since last year’s Uvalde, Texas, massacre.
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
Monterey Park mass shooting forces city into international spotlight
Pre-pandemic, the city was known as among the best places to live in America. And it still is, as the city continues to boast its No. 3 slot for Money Magazine’s 2017 “Best Places to Live” list, a designation based on the cities’ economy, cost of living, education, housing, crime, amenities and ease of living.
But on a weekend that was supposed to be full of celebration, the quiet that has defined this community, known for its immigrant population and close-knittedness, and as a landing place for people from China and Taiwan, was shattered.
Response
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
‘My heart is broken’: Lawmakers swiftly respond to Monterey Park mass shooting
Expressions of shock. Prayers for victims. Calls for action on gun violence prevention.
Lawmakers locally and across the nation were quick to respond to another mass shooting in the United States, this time in Monterey Park, where at least 10 people were killed on Saturday night, Jan. 21.
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
Monterey Park mass shooting stokes fear among Asian communities in Southern California
Although authorities are not calling Saturday night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park a hate crime, the Lunar New Year celebration that ended in tragedy is stoking fear among the Asian American community.
More
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
What is Lunar New Year? A look at the annual celebration
For the Asian American and Asian diaspora community, Lunar New Year, typically celebrated between late January and early February, is a time of cultural potlucks, family gatherings, red envelopes and new beginnings.
Published: Jan. 22, 2023
Monterey Park mass shooting is deadliest in US since Uvalde, Texas
Saturday’s mass shooting at a Monterey Park ballroom, where at least 10 people were killed during a Lunar New Year celebration, followed a handful of other high-profile shootings in recent years in Southern California.
Published: June 10, 2016
Our 2016 story about Star Dance Studio
When you visit Star Dance in Monterey Park, you won’t just learn a little cha-cha. On this dance floor, you also might learn to describe your moves in Russian, count your steps in Chinese and learn about another culture, all to the rhythms of the rumba.
Published: Jan. 24, 2023
Monterey Park massacre puts new LA County sheriff on global stage
Less than two months after he was sworn into office, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna faced baptism by fire in the Monterey Park shooting that claimed 11 lives and catapulted him onto a worldwide stage.