Officials learned the suspect walked next to the dance club in Alhambra, Sheriff Luna said, where he was disarmed by community members who he says should be considered heroes.
“I can tell you that the suspect probably went in with the intention of killing more people.” he said.
After the alarm went off for the white van, tactical teams surrounded a vehicle matching that description in Torrance, the sheriff said. More than an hour of tense preparation ensued, during which tactical officers with armored vehicles held the van down and eventually smashed the windows and entered. Sheriff Luna said evidence found in the van linked the man inside, who shot and killed himself, to both crime scenes.
A handgun was recovered from the van, Sheriff Luna said, adding that the gun seized from the suspect at the Alhambra, a magazine-type semi-automatic assault pistol with an extended large-capacity magazine attached, is unlikely to be legal in California.
Monterey Park, a city of about 60,000 people, is over 60 percent Asian American. Located about seven miles east of downtown Los Angeles, it is considered a mecca for Chinese immigrants, a place where they can find solace in the cuisine and language of their native country while leaving American roots for their children. With more space than Los Angeles’ Chinatown, it’s a suburban enclave that a well-known developer once dubbed “the Chinese Beverly Hills‘, and it remains a destination in the San Gabriel Valley, a region known for its immigrants and Asian and Latin American cuisines.
After a three-year hiatus during the pandemic, the city’s two-day New Year’s celebration was a highly anticipated event. On Saturday afternoon, Garvey Avenue, a major thoroughfare, was a merry scene with vendors and rides. But it would soon be cordoned off with police tape.
Rep. Judy Chu, whose district includes Monterey Park and has served as mayor three times, said the attack “put a hole in all of our hearts.” She had, she said, become a member of an unfortunate club: a citizen leader with a mass shooting to respond to.
