California Mass Shooting Hero Who Disarmed Attacker Speaks Out

Saturday evening was winding down at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra, California, following a Lunar Near Year celebration. Brandon Tsay heard the front door lock behind him.

Tsay, who helps his family operate the dance hall, stated that the shooter was "looking around the room" as though he were "searching for targets - people to harm."

California Mass Shooting Good Samaritan

Tsay stated that during the incident, he used his elbows to separate the pistol from the suspect until he wcouldgrab the weapon away and pushed the man aside, according to Good Morning America.

He did not know at the time, but he would later hear that this same guy, identified by officials as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, had reportedly opened fire 20 minutes earlier at another dancing school in adjacent Monterey Park, killing at least ten people and injuring ten more.

The horrific shooting at Star Dance Studio in a primarily Asian neighborhood of Monterey Park occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. local time on Saturday, on what should have been the most joyous day of the year for those of Asian origin.

Authorities said that Tran fled the scene in a white vehicle and went to Alhambra, where he entered the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio before being disarmed. On Sunday, following a daylong search, police spotted Tran's car along a road near Torrance, some 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park.

As a marked police car drove behind the van, the vehicle entered a shopping center parking lot. When police exited their patrol vehicle and approached the van, they heard a single gunshot from within the van. According to officials, the cops discovered Tran dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the van, which had a stolen license plate.

Multiple law enforcement authorities have said that the available information rules out terrorism or a hate crime as the cause of the assault, even though the attack's motive remains unclear.

Police are investigating "jealousy" and a personal relationship as possible motives for the killing. Chester Hong, a resident of Monterey Park, said he felt a marital quarrel over an invitation to a Lunar New Year's Eve party may have been the cause of the attack, as per WIONews.

The mass shooting at Monterey Park is the bloodiest incident in the United States since a shooter killed 19 pupils and two instructors at a Texas school in May last year.

The White House said on Sunday that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been instructed to assist the local police. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted that the Biden administration will continue giving local authorities full assistance.

Oldest US Mass Shooter in 60 Years

According to experts who study the issue, the gunman is the oldest mass public shooter in the United States in at least 60 years. Tran is the second-oldest mass murderer, including in domestic fights, according to a database assembled by USA TODAY, The Associated Press, and Northeastern University.

In Yuma County, Arizona, in 2011, a 73-year-old man targeted and murdered five people, including his ex-wife, her attorney, and three of her acquaintances, before committing suicide. Relatives claim that Tran had provided free dance lessons at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the murders occurred Monday; authorities were still looking for a motive in the crime.

Densley stated that Tran is two years older than the previous oldest major public shooter. The year was 1981. The median age of mass public shooters is 32 years old, according to The Violence Project's data.

However, ages vary per place. The research indicates that mass shooters in workplaces, warehouses, and places of worship tend to be older than those in K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. In 2017, the shooters in Las Vegas were all over 50 years old; in 2018, Bakersfield, California; in 2019, Jersey City, New Jersey; in 2020, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and in 2021, San Jose, California.

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