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Monterey Park community is relieved shooter is no longer a threat, Rep. Chu says
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Updated January 23, 2023 at 11:05 AM ET
A mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, a city east of Los Angeles, killed 10 people and left 10 others injured over the weekend.
The next morning, the shooter was found dead.
Huu Can Tran, 72, was pronounced dead at the scene following a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a news conference Sunday afternoon.
The attack took place in a city just east of Los Angeles, where a festival was held earlier in the day on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The southern California Asian community is still reeling from the aftermath of the shooting, and police are still trying to determine the shooter's motive.
On Morning Edition, Representative Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, tells A Martinez the Monterey Park community is relieved the shooter is no longer a threat.
Interview Highlights
On how Monterey Park is dealing with the mass shooting
We feel so relieved that this shooter no longer poses a threat. All day long, people in the community were so fearful and anxious about whether they could continue doing what they do and attend Lunar New Year celebrations. They were frightened and shocked by all that happened, so now they can feel safe again.
Having been its mayor and council member, it was beyond shocking to see this utter act of terrible violence taking away ten lives and putting ten others in the hospital. And it was especially horrendous that it occurred only hours after our Lunar New Year Festival celebration, where thousands of people were only one block away.
On how Asian American communities will celebrate in the future
I just hope that it can be revived because it was something that brought the whole community together. We do have other celebrations around the area and I encourage residents to go to those as well.
For the past three years, we have been victims of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents. That's why I felt it was so important to say to the people in the press conference that you are safe. This shooter is no longer active. And it is important to make sure that we go back to our activities.
On the two community members who disarmed the shooter
I have to praise them so much for their quick action. This could have been even more of a massacre, but because they did that, lives were saved. And so they are role models for us.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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