Ten people were killed in a shooting Saturday night in a city east of Los Angeles after a Lunar New Year celebration attended by thousands.
According to Sgt. Bob Boese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the shooting occurred at 10:22 p.m. local time at a store on Garvey Ave. in Parque de Monterey. According to Boese, a shooter is a man.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Andrew Meyers said deputies responded to emergency calls around 10:20 p.m. on Saturday and found people leaving the building.
“Officers entered the scene and located other victims,” he said.
“The Monterey Park Police Fire Department responded to the scene and treated the injured and pronounced 10 of the victims dead at the scene. There are at least 10 other victims who have been transported to numerous local hospitals and are in various conditions, from stable to critical Suspect is on the run and remains on hold.”
Numerous police officers responded to reports of the shooting, but for several hours no information was released by authorities.
A city of approximately 61,000 people, Monterey Park has a large Asian population and is located approximately 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
Seung Won Choi, the owner of the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from the scene of the filming, told the Los Angeles Times that three people forced their way in and told him to lock the door.
Witnesses also told Choi that there was a gunner with a machine gun bringing several rounds to reload.
The two-day festival, one of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations in Southern California, kicked off Saturday.
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is an annual 15-day festival celebrated by Chinese communities around the world that begins with the new moon, which on a Western calendar falls between January 21 and January 20. February. The celebrations continue until the full moon after that.
