One year since, Monterey Park moves forward
2023
Jan. 21, 10:22 p.m. Monterey Park police dispatch receives a 911 call about shots fired. The witness tells dispatch it occurred two minutes prior.
About 10:20 p.m., a gunman – later identified as Hemet resident Huu Can Tran, 72 – enters Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue and opened fire, killing 11 and injuring several others.
By 10:45 p.m., Tran heads over to Lai Lai Dance Studio in Alhambra. Brandon Tsay confronts him in the lobby and wrestles the gun away from Tran, who flees the scene.
Jan. 22, about 9 a.m.: Torrance police begin patrolling after receiving a dispatch about a suspicious white van.
10:20 a.m.: Officers spot the white van on Hawthorne Boulevard. The plates on the van don’t match the DMV return. Officers pull the van over for a traffic stop. When they approach, they hear a single gunshot, retreat, and call in reinforcements. Law enforcement authorities surround the van. A standoff ensues. Tran is later found dead inside from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• Monterey Park officials launch resource center for survivors and families of victims.
8:25 p.m.: Hemet police spokesperson Alan Reyes confirms Tran lived at the senior mobile home park called The Lakes at Hemet West. A search warrant is obtained and authorities begin searching the residence.
Jan. 23: L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna announces 42 rounds were fired in the massacre, with no motive found.
• Two days after the Monterey Park mass shooting, seven are killed in Half Moon Bay, when a gunman opened fire at two locations.
• The first of several vigils, drawing thousands to Monterey Park is held.
• L.A. Archbishop Jose Gomez prays for victims during a Lunar New Year Mass. The shooting, the 33rd in the U.S. in the new 2023 year, is the deadliest in the U.S. since Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022, when a gunman fatally shot 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
Jan. 24: In the aftermath of the shooting, Monterey Park students return to school to mental health and grieving counselors.
Jan. 25: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Monterey Park, meets with families.Pope Francis releases a statement expressing his sadness over the shooting.
Jan. 26: President Joe Biden calls Brandon Tsay a hero.
Late January: Funerals begin for victims.
February: Early relief fund tops $1 million. Members of the L.A. Dodgers visit Monterey Park to honor the victims. L.A. County supervisors ban large-caliber handguns, prohibit guns on county property.
• At the State of the Union address, President Joe Biden calls for a ban on assault-style weapons, as his guest, Brandon Tsay watches in person. The head of the U.S. Small Business Administration visits Monterey Park.
March: The Monterey Park Community Fund gets off the ground. Rep. Judy Chu calls on Congress to formally condemn the mass shootings.
• President Joe Biden visits Monterey Park, signing an executive order seeking to curb gun violence.
• Monterey Park firefighters host a barbecue in support of the Monterey Park Community Healing Fund. The city’s second EDM festival, the Electric Park Festival, uses house, disco and electro music and unite the community in a dark time.
April: Monterey Park welcomes the return of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
• Following months of temporary mental health care services after the Star Ballroom Dance Studio shooting, Chinatown Service Center is approved as a more permanent fixture at Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library.
• For the second time in a matter of less than a month’s time, the city of Monterey Park finds itself offering official solidarity with yet another American city hit with a mass shooting.
• The city sends a “message of support” to Louisville, Kent., where a gunman entered Old National Bank on April 10 with an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire, killing four and injuring several others, including critically wounding a police officer. The city first sent a similar message in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Tennessee private school on March 27 — where three children and three adults were shot and killed.
May: The owner of Star Ballroom Dance Studio – site of Monterey Park mass shooting – says her business is on the brink of closing for good.
May 21: Hundreds of people gather at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra to celebrate Asian-American heritage. It was among early attempts to encourage healing with fellowship at a beloved ballroom dance floor.
June: Monterey Park pop-up federal disaster aid center sees demand from local businesses.
August: Monterey Park bans firearms on city property and requires residential safe storage. Its City Council also approves an ordinance that creates a gun retail “buffer zone.” The ordinance outlaws retail gun sales within a 1,000-foot zone around “sensitive receptors” such as schools and residences.
September: The city of Monterey Park begins planning memorial for mass shooting victims.
November: The Monterey Park City Council extends the life of a lease enabling Chinatown Service Center’s use of the city’s Sierra Vista Community Center as the temporary MPK Hope Resilience Center.
2024
Jan. 1: When 2023 began, Monterey Park was the 33rd mass shooting in the United States. The year ended with 658 mass shootings.
Jan. 11: Monterey Park mayor delivers State of the City, describing a ‘dramatically changed’ city.
Sources: Gun Violence Archives, Sky News
Source: Orange County Register
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