More facts are coming to light about the shooting at a Monterey Park dance studio on January 22, as the 11 victims who died have been identified and video footage emerged of a man disarming the same gunman at an Alhambra dance studio.
The 11 victims are as follows, per the coroner’s office:
- Chia Yau, 76.
- Diana Tom, 70.
- Hong Jian, 62.
- Lillian Li, 63.
- Ming Ma, 72.
- Muoi Ung, 67.
- My Nhan, 65.
- Valentino Alvero, 68.
- Wen Yu, 64.
- Xiujuan Yu, 57.
- Yu Kao, 72.
Nine other victims were wounded in the shooting.
The gunman, who law enforcement suspects to be Huu Can Tran, 72, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a van after a standoff with law enforcement in Torrance on January 23. Authorities believe Tran entered the Star Ballroom Dance Studio at 10:22 p.m. on January 22 and fired 42 shots in the dance studio before subsequently heading to the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra.
Brandon Tsay, 26, whose family owns the ballroom, told ABC7 that he saw “an Asian man” with a gun and appeared to be looking to harm people. Tsay said that “something came over me” and he “lunged” at the gunman in an attempt to take the gun away, and ultimately succeeded after a struggle. Tsay took hold off the gun and threatened to shoot the man, believed to be Tran, if he didn’t leave. The man eventually left, and Tsay called the police.
EXCLUSIVE: Brandon Tsay, who helped disarm the gunman who allegedly shot 20 people, 10 fatally, during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, speaks out. "My first thought was I was going to die here, this is it." https://t.co/uQVpFX1l4x pic.twitter.com/5UUtxRRiz7
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 23, 2023
Police have yet to determine the motive for the shooting, though they believe Tran had a “personal motive and have discounted hate crime or terrorism as a possible inspiration for the attack,” per NBC News. Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo told NBC, “My understanding is that he may have come because his ex-wife was reveling, celebrating the Lunar New Year, and it sounded like there was a history of domestic violence, which is unfortunate.” Chester Chong, who heads the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, told ABC7 that he had heard from people in the community that the gunman may have been jealous because his wife was invited to participate in the Lunar New Year celebrations while he was not. Law enforcement sources similarly told LA Mag that Tran “was looking for his wife” and the shooting was likely “domestic violence.” Tran was married to a woman in 2005 but they have since divorced.
Tran had lived in a retirement community in Hemet; Hemet Police said that earlier in the month, Tran came to the station and alleged that his family had attempted to poison him for 10-20 years and accused them of fraud. He claimed to have documentation substantiating his allegations but never came back to the station. Police found hordes of ammunition, believed to be in the hundreds, in Tran’s home and suspect he was building his own firearm suppressors.
A member of the retirement community, Pat Roth, told Inland News, “Everybody around here just thought he was just some quiet, little guy. The people I’ve talked to are just stunned that he was involved in this.” But Ilie Bardahan, who dances at the Lai Lai Ballroom, described Tran to CNN as being “a little bit psycho” with a “very bad temperament.” Adam Hood, who used to rent an apartment from Tran before the two had a falling out, told CNN that Tran “could hate people to death” and “pushed it to the extreme.” Hood said that Tran was irked at the dance instructors at both the Star and Lai Lai dance studios because “he thought they spoke evil of him.” “That was baseless,” Hood said. “He was always unhappy with the people in the studios, always complaining about studio bosses and other instructors, not about the students. It was all in his mind.”
