January 22, 2023 Monterey Park mass shooting news

Dance instructors at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, called the venue a gathering place for the local Chinese community.

The studio hosts a variety of classes and private lessons, which instructor Oleksandr Kamniev said focus on ballroom dancing and Latin standards. The studio also rented out its ballroom space — which has an area for karaoke — for private parties.

"For parties, it's a big thing," Kamniev said, adding that sometimes as many as 300 people attended. "A lot of Chinese people love to come here."

Kamniev estimated "99%" of Star's dance students were Chinese, and ranged in age from 4 to 75. Sundays, he said, were usually kids' days at the studio. 

According to a CNN analysis, Saturday's mass shooting took place in the Star Ballroom Dance Studio. Ten people were killed and 10 others were wounded in the shooting, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Kamniev and his wife, Kateryna Kamnieva, taught Latin dancing at the studio for several years. They were not present at the shooting.

Kamniev and his wife said they believed the studio owner was at the venue Saturday night. They said they reached out to her and were waiting to hear back when they spoke with CNN.

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents Monterey Park, California, praised the first responders and honored the victims of a Saturday night mass shooting that left 10 people dead.  

 "My thoughts and condolences go to the victims of this horrific crime," Chu said.  

"It's horrible that such a thing could occur at a time of celebration for so many in the AAPI community and in the Asian community worldwide," she added. "This is a time to be with family, to celebrate, and yet this tore a hole through all of our hearts."  

Despite the tragedy, Chu, who said she's been a resident of the area for 37 years, knows how strong the community is.  

"Monterey Park is resilient. And what I know about the people here is that we will get through this together," the lawmaker said.

The city is a predominantly Asian community and had plans for major Lunar New Year celebrations to continue through Sunday. Those plans have been scrapped, the city said.

President Joe Biden said he is monitoring the aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 10 people in Monterey Park, California, “closely as it develops,” in Sunday morning tweet. 

“Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park,” the president said. “I’m monitoring this situation closely as it develops, and urge the community to follow guidance from local officials and law enforcement in the hours ahead.”

The White House announced earlier that the president was briefed by Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and that he directed her to “make sure that the FBI is providing full support to local authorities,” while providing him regular updates.

The Bidens remain at their vacation home in Rehoboth Beach and are expected to return to Washington, DC, on Monday.

Authorities do not believe that an assault rifle was used by the gunman in the Monterey Park, California, mass shooting, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters at a news conference Sunday.

Luna added that a gun from a second incident at a nearby dance studio in Alhambra was recovered by law enforcement. He said that it potentially could be linked to the Monterey Park shooting. "It absolutely could be. We don't know yet," he told reporters.

Luna did not specify the type of gun seized by law enforcement in Alhambra.

At that location, people were able to disarm a man who showed up with a gun, the sheriff said. The man fled, and authorities are still looking into whether that confrontation was linked to the Monterey Park attack.

The incidents happened 20 to 30 minutes apart, according to Luna.

A group of people wrestled a gun away from an armed man at a dance studio in Alhambra, California, shortly after the Monterey Park shooting Saturday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday, adding that the two incidents may be related.

Luna said the Alhambra incident happened after the attack in Monterey Park, "within 20 to 30 minutes" of the mass shooting.

The sheriff's department seized the gun that was wrestled away from the man in Alhambra. Asked if it was potentially the weapon used in the Monterey Park attack, Luna said: "It absolutely could be. We don't know yet."

The sheriff added that the gunman from the Alhambra incident fled in a white van, according to witnesses at the scene.

"That individual took off. Now, some witnesses in that area are describing a white cargo van. We don't know, though, at this time if it is connected. That white van should be a van of interest at this point. Again, detectives looking at multiple locations, multiple clues," Luna said.

The 10 people killed in Saturday night's mass shooting at a Monterey Park dance studio were five women and five men, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Sunday.

Luna said he did not have specific details on the victims' ages or other identifying information.

Authorities are still searching for a gunman in Saturday's mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, where 10 people were killed and 10 others were wounded.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the gunman "remains outstanding."

"We are here to tell you that we are utilizing every resource to apprehend this suspect, in what we believe to be the county's most heinous cases. Our local state and federal law enforcement agencies are working together to better serve the residents here of Los Angeles County and to apprehend this attacker," the sheriff said at a news conference Sunday.

Preliminarily, Luna said the suspect has been described as an Asian man believed to be 30 to 50 years old, but law enforcement have “gotten different descriptions of one suspect.”

Authorities are holding a news conference about a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, where at least 10 people were killed and at least 10 more wounded.

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office has joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Monterey Park Police in the investigation.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives have responded to assist in the Monterey Park mass shooting investigation, the agency confirmed on social media.  

The ATF routinely provides assistance to local law enforcement in tracing the origin and owner of firearms used in crimes. The agency also conducts forensic analysis of spent ammunition shell casings left behind at crime scenes to determine the type of firearm used and whether it matches information in the ATF’s database of past gun crimes.