Monterey Park on Sunday, Jan. 21, paused to remember its darkest day, and to reflect on its healing.
Survivors, families of victims, residents and leaders were coming to Monterey Park City Hall, where in an evening vigil and a series of events before hand they are remembering the 11 people gunned down in a mass shooting just blocks away exactly one year ago.
“It is so important for us to come together and reflect upon what happened a year ago,” said Rep. Judy Chu, a former Monterey Park City Councilwoman and three-time mayor of the city, at an event ahead of the vigil. “It’s very sobering to think about that day and how traumatized this community was. We had a very devastating situation with the loss of these 11 lives.”
On that night, gunman Huu Can Tran, 72, of Hemet, entered Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue and opened fire and seriously wounded nine others.
Minutes later, he arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra and attempted to enter before he was stopped by Brandon Tsay, a young man lauded as a life-saving hero.
The gunman, 72, killed himself the following day after he was pulled over by police outside a Torrance strip mall.
But by the next day, 11 people bonded by a love for ballroom dancing were taken: Ming Wei Ma, 72; Yu-Lun Kao, 72; Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Wen-Tau Yu, 64; My My Nhan, 65; Xiujuan Yu, 57; Muoi Dai Ung, 67; Hongying Jian, 62; Chia Ling Yau, 76; Diana Man Ling Tom, 70; LiLan Li, 63.
Among them there was the devoted dancer, the “heart of the ballroom,” with “boundless enthusiasm.” There was the man whose two-second move during a jive dance saved a woman’s life. There was the devoted father, who had become “the life of any party.” The woman from China who came to the U.S. to build a new future. The Chinese-Vietnamese refugee who felt a bond with Monterey Park. There was “sister sunshine.” There was the devoted grandmother who simply loved to dance. The list goes on. Eleven people bonded by a love of dance and lives well lived.
At the time it happened, Monterey Park was the 33rd mass shooting in the United States in 2023, and the deadliest. The year would end with 658 mass shootings across country.
Monterey Park’s was the deadliest in L.A. County history — and occurred on the eve of the Lunar New Year in a community that is majority Asian American and is considered the first suburban Chinatown in the nation.
Before the vigil, Sunday’s scene was a far cry from the chaos of that day a year ago. Over at the now closed Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the shooting happened, a lone bouquet of flowers rested on its side outside of the building, a box sitting next to it with a red-tinseled heart-shaped wreath with an arrow through it.
Outside City Hall, under a canopy to protect from rain, Sunday’s evening vigil is set to be the culmination of a day of events devoted in the city to remembering the tragedy and probing a year of recovery since in this city of nearly 60,000.
The exploration was the subject of a “Roundtable on Hope and Healing” at the city’s Bruggemeyer Library.
It brought together community leaders from L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna to Brandon Tsay to Sheila Wu, director of Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Centers, in L.A. County catering to the Asian community, to discuss strategies for fostering support in a community still recovering.
“There is a lot of anxiety still (in the community). I think,” Wu said in an interview before the roundtable. “Last Saturday, we held a workshop at Lai Lai dance studio, and a lot of folks came out, so we provided mental health support, and they had questions about getting re-traumatized with the anniversary, so we just gave them some prepping.”
The tragedy fueled an ongoing debate in the United States over the prevention of gun violence. And it led to setting up resources to accommodate the demand for mental health resources in Monterey Park.
President Joe Biden visited Monterey Park, consoled each of the victims’ families and announced executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence. He also took time during his State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, 2023, to call for increased gun control while acknowledging his invited guest, Brandon Tsay, as a hero.
Today marks 1 year exactly since the shooting in Monterey Park. So far, a candle and bundle of flowers are set up at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio to honor the 11 dancers killed.
For more info: https://t.co/0jDBJLINm3 pic.twitter.com/QEvJcdQOky
— Victoria Ivie (@vwritesap) January 21, 2024
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On Sunday, he acknowledged the somber anniversary, while making a renewed call for an assault weapons ban.
On X, he said: “One year ago today, during Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, 11 people were killed in a heinous act of gun violence. Two days later, the tragedy was compounded, as a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay. Jill and I pray for the families of the victims.
“It’s long past time we banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, ended immunity from liability for gun manufacturers, passed a national red flag law, enacted universal background checks, and required safe storage of guns.”
One year ago today, during Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, 11 people were killed in a heinous act of gun violence.
Two days later, the tragedy was compounded, as a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay.
Jill and I pray for the families of the victims. pic.twitter.com/W31PIr2qbR
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 21, 2024
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It also amplified efforts by Congresswoman Chu, who has touted two pieces of proposed gun-violence prevention legislation — the Language Access to Gun Violence Prevention Strategies Act, and the FLAG, or Fair Legal Access Grants, Act.
She has said the first would ensure multilingual outreach efforts about red flag laws and gun violence prevention, while the second would provide funding to ensure proper legal representation for people seeking to file red flag petitions to keep guns away from people with mental health or other issues precluding them from owning weapons.
Chu noted that local advocates and organizations mobilized and continue to support the victims with translation services, government resources, fundraising and mental health care, as well as long-term assistance at the MPK Hope Resiliency Center at Sierra Vista Park Community Center.
The day was remembered outside of Monterey Park as leaders weighed in.
“Today, my heart is with the survivors and families who lost loved ones at a dance studio in Monterey Park,” said former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself nearly killed in a mass shooting in her home state.
On Jan. 8, 2011, a man opened fire during her meet-and-greet event outside a Safeway, killing six people and wounding 13 others, including the congresswoman.
“In the year since (Monterey Park), I’ve been inspired by those who refused to have their joy taken away and found healing in dancing once again.”
It’s a courage she and others praised on Sunday, as she remembered the heroism of Brandon Tsay, “who heroically confronted and disarmed the gunman, ultimately saving lives.”
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis is preparing a motion for the board’s Tuesday meeting, where the one-year anniversary would be “memorialized” in connection with a Lunar New Year proclamation, ushering in the Year of the Dragon.
“In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon represents many values, including dignity, strength, and renewal. And to me, no community has better exemplified these values than the San Gabriel Valley,” she said. “They have truly embraced the values of the Dragon and demonstrated the capacity to not only move forward but also create a happy and prosperous future.”
Back in Monterey Park on Sunday, before the vigil, Monterey Park City Councilmember Thomas Wong reflected on the impact of the tragedy.
“It wasn’t just a Monterey Park tragedy, but one that hit the heart of so many throughout the region,” he said.
Source: Orange County Register
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