Ten people have died while another 10 are injured following a shooting at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, near Los Angeles. According to CNN, the incident occurred at around 10:20 PM on Saturday, just hours after people had gathered for the Lunar New Year Festival, the publication reports.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says that they are still on the hunt for the male suspect, who they believe fled the scene shortly after the senseless crime. A description of the suspect has yet to be released. Per the Los Angeles Times, one eyewitness said people were running into a restaurant amid the shooting, telling the store owner that there was a man killing people with a “machine gun.”
"There is a male suspect that fled the scene, and remains outstanding as of this moment," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said of the suspect who killed at least 10 people and injured more in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California. https://t.co/F65OUseeCr pic.twitter.com/T0QYgrooZ2
— CNN (@CNN) January 22, 2023
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“It appears to have happened at a dance studio nearby where a gunman came in with what an eyewitness described as a machine gun, some automatic gun that fired multiple rounds at mostly Asian-Americans,” another bystander told the BBC. The shooter then reportedly hopped into a car and fled.
As previously mentioned, the gunman is still said to be at large. Cops are now calling on local residents to help track down where the suspect could have gone, with LA County Sheriff Robert Luna saying in a press conference, “We need to get this person off the street as soon as possible.”
Sunday’s plans for the continued celebration of the Lunar New Year Festival have since been scrapped, according to reports, as an investigation is underway pertaining to the shooting last night. It’s also believed that the shooter may have entered another dance studio just 30 minutes afterward, where his firearm was claimed to have been “wrestled” off him.
Mass shooting near Los Angeles in Monterey Park, California is worse since Uvalde. Man with assault style weapon killed ten at dance club, where a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration was taking place. Monterey Park is primarily an Asian community. pic.twitter.com/i7VsVep1Tt
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 22, 2023
“We believe that there’s an incident that may be related,” Luna continued. “It’s definitely on our radar.”
“We don’t know if this is specifically a hate crime defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people?” Luna said. “The description we have is a male Asian. Does that matter? I don’t know. I can tell you everything is on the table.”
The post Lunar New Year Shooting: At Least 10 Dead And 10 Injured In Monterey Park, Cops Still Looking For Suspect appeared first on Hollywood Unlocked .