By: Jingwei Zhao
On the second of January 2023, one fateful event occurred. A Lunar New Year celebration is meant to be full of family and reunion, but this one had a much more sinister tone. In Monterey Park, California, an Asian man named Huu Can Tran carried out a mass shooting. At the Monterey Park Dance Studio, nine people were injured and 12 were killed, including the gunman himself. Luckily, a civilian by the name of Brandon Tsay successfully disarmed the murderer and prevented any more casualties. The motive of the shooter is unknown, and he has a peculiar background, which makes the tragic case even more mysterious.
Tran had a criminal record, but it was a very small one. He was questioned by the Hemet Police Department on January 7 and 9, 2023 for alleged fraud, theft, and poisoning allegations involving his family around 10 to 20 years ago. “Tran stated he would return to the station with documentation regarding his allegations but never returned,” said the police.
The suspect was well known in the Star Ballroom Dance Studio and was a regular. In fact, he met his wife there, although the couple filed for divorce in 2005. Tran made a good friend back there, but he was shocked when he heard the news. The murderer was also known for having a bad temper but didn’t previously act violently. As we all know, that changed once he started firing.
All the victims were over 50 years old, with three over 70. One of the casualties was a woman identified as My Nhan, a 65-year-old. According to her family and her dance instructor, Nhan was a bright, smiling, and kind woman, who brought much love to the world. Lilan Li, Xiujuan Yu, and Valentino Alvero are just some of the other victims of the incident. The rest aren’t named due to privacy reasons.
After moving on from the first dance studio, Tran fled to the Lai Lai Ballroom, where he met Brandon Tsay. When Tran finally noticed Tsay, he pointed at the victim with his firearm.
According to Tsay when recalling the situation, “I’m (Tsay) going to die. This is it. This is the end for me. But then something happened. Something came over me.” He lunged at Tran and was able to pull the weapon away from him, and then made Tran leave and retreat to his van.
Because of these actions, Tsay was able to save many other lives from the murderer. Despite the shockwaves, and horror experienced caused by this massive and rare event for the Monterey Park community, this is only just one of the 39 mass shootings this year.