In Torrance, California, there was a police intervention related to an earlier shooting in the city of Monterey Park, in which ten people were killed. It was reported by American media, according to which security forces surrounded a man in a van who they believed might be the suspect in the shooting. The LA Times later reported that a SWAT team entered the car and found the driver dead. However, it is not yet clear if this is the same person who is suspected of the shooting.
A shooting in a dance hall in the California city of Monterey Park, which is located east of Los Angeles and where a large Asian community lives, claimed the lives of ten people, the perpetrator is still on the run, writes the AP agency with reference to the police. Thousands of people gathered in the city earlier to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Police Capt. Andrew Meyer later said that ten people died at the scene and another ten injured were taken to the hospital. The condition of at least one of them is critical. According to Meyer, police arrived at the scene at 10:30 p.m. local time as people were fleeing the dance studio. Police officers went into the building while paramedics treated the injured. Meyer did not provide a more detailed description of the suspect or the weapon used. According to him, the motive has not yet been clarified, but the police are investigating a possible connection with another incident in the nearby city of Alhambra.
According to footage on social networks, many police officers were dispatched to the dance hall and sealed off the crime scene with yellow tape. One of the videos released shortly after the shooting showed ambulances taking the wounded to hospital. A number of these people are apparently of Asian descent. Other footage shows people lying on the ground.
Monterey Park is located approximately 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles and has approximately 60,000 residents, including a large Asian community. The BBC news website wrote that the end of Saturday’s celebrations there was planned for 21:00 local time.
