Monterey Park shooting: 10 killed at Lunar New Year party

Los Angeles: A gunman has killed at least 10 people at a ballroom dance hall during Chinese Lunar New Year celebration near Los Angeles before fleeing the scene and killing himself. 

As per authorities, the motive behind the shooting is unknown yet. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna revealed that the suspect was a 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, who wielded a pistol with a high-capacity magazine. 

"We want to know, we want to know how something this awful can happen," the sheriff said.

Sheriff Luna said Tran turned the handgun on himself on Sunday morning as police approached a white van he was driving in Torrance, about 34km from the site of the shooting. 

The shooting unfolded on Saturday night as tens of thousands of people had been attending Lunar New Year festivities in Monterey Park. 

“When officers arrived on scene, they observed numerous individuals, patrons ... pouring out of the location, screaming,” said Capt Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims."

Capt Meyer said investigators had yet to determine if the victims were targeted and that it was too early to say whether the shooting was a hate crime.

“We will look at every angle,” he added.

Monterey Park has a population of about 60,000 and is home to a large number of Asian Americans. The two-day annual festival is one of the largest in southern California.

Police responded in huge numbers and helicopters were sent to the scene.

Footage showed injured revellers on stretchers being taken into ambulances. Many reportedly mistook the shots for fireworks before realising an attack was taking place.

It is pertinent to mention here that the anti-Asian sentiment and violence in the US grew during the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China.