After a large-scale Lunar New Year event that drew thousands of people, a mass shooting took place late at night on Saturday in a community east of Los Angeles, killing nine people, according to police. The incident was reported at a store on Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park around 10:22 PM, according to Sgt. Bob Boese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Boese reported later that the shooter was identified as a male.
Dozens of police officers responded to reports of the shooting, but the officials offered no details for several hours.
A distressing video of the incident was shared on social media.
The distance between downtown Los Angeles and the city of Monterey Park, which has a population of roughly 60,000, is about 10 miles (16 kilometres).
According to Seung Won Choi, owner of the Clam House seafood BBQ restaurant across the street from the scene of the shooting, three persons barged into his place of business and ordered him to lock the door.
Additionally, the locals informed Choi that there was a gunman with a machine gun, who was carrying a number of bullets with him. Choi asserted that he thinks a dance club was the scene of the shooting.
The two-day festival, one of the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations in Southern California, began on Saturday.
The United States is facing an epidemic of gun violence for the past many years, resulting in multiple deaths of both, ordinary citizens and men in uniform. Reports state, that the shootings claimed over 130 lives and ended up wounding over 300 people within the first week of 2023.