'LA Lunar New Year Shooting' Leaves 10 Dead... Suspect is Asian American

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A mass shooting occurred during the Lunar New Year event in the small city of Monterey Park in Los Angeles (LA) County, USA, resulting in at least 10 deaths.

[Image source=Reuters·Yonhap News]

According to the LA County Sheriff's Department, at around 10:20 p.m. local time on the 21st, an Asian male suspect opened fire indiscriminately at Star Dance, a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, killing five men and five women at the scene. There are 10 injured, some in critical condition, so the death toll may rise.

The incident occurred near the Lunar New Year festival venue in Monterey Park. The festival is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California, attracting tens of thousands of visitors in a single day. It was scheduled to last two days starting the previous day, but the second day’s events were completely canceled due to this incident. Monterey Park, located about 11 km east of downtown LA, is a city with a population of about 60,000, of which 65% are Asian Americans. Furthermore, a majority of the Asian residents in this city are of Chinese descent.

Additionally, the police released a photo of the Asian male suspect. The suspect was captured on surveillance cameras near the scene wearing a black leather jacket, a fur hat, and glasses.

The police SWAT team conducted a search for a white van believed to have been used by the suspect to flee the scene in Torrance, California, after the shooting. ABC News reported that a body was found in the vehicle and that the suspect is believed to have taken his own life. In a briefing, the police stated that the suspect is presumed to have been inside the vehicle but did not confirm whether he was alive.

The police stated that the motive for the crime is still unclear. In the first briefing immediately after the incident, the police said it was too early to determine whether the shooting was racially motivated or a hate crime but added, "We will look at the incident from all angles."

The police are also investigating the possibility that the suspect attempted a second attack at another dance studio in the nearby city of Alhambra, about 3 km from Monterey Park, but failed. According to the police, 20 to 30 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, a man tried to open fire at 'Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio' in Alhambra, but after people disarmed him, he fled in a white van.

According to the Associated Press, this tragedy is the fifth mass shooting incident this year. It is also the deadliest shooting since the May last year shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed 21 lives.