CA - Multiple Deaths In Mass Shootings At Two Dance Studios in Monterey Park By Gunman Huu Can Tran, Jan 2023

[Sundog]

‘Dance was her life.’ Remembering the Monterey Park shooting victims

Eleven lives were lost on Jan. 21 at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in one of California’s worst mass shootings in recent history. These are their stories.

www.latimes.com

A tribute to each one of the victims of the Monterey Park shooting on Lunar New Years Eve.

In the words of the family of one of the victims:

“Our family story has echoes all over our San Gabriel Valley community. Of war, migration, loss, love, hardship, hard work, pain, and joy,” Ung’s family wrote. “Let us come together stronger as a family and community. Let us make sure that beyond this moment, we continue to dance and create spaces for joy.”

 

[slowpoke]

‘Dance was her life.’ Remembering the Monterey Park shooting victims

Eleven lives were lost on Jan. 21 at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in one of California’s worst mass shootings in recent history. These are their stories.

www.latimes.com

A tribute to each one of the victims of the Monterey Park shooting on Lunar New Years Eve.

In the words of the family of one of the victims:

“Our family story has echoes all over our San Gabriel Valley community. Of war, migration, loss, love, hardship, hard work, pain, and joy,” Ung’s family wrote. “Let us come together stronger as a family and community. Let us make sure that beyond this moment, we continue to dance and create spaces for joy.”

I loved seeing the videos of the dancers dancing at the studios. Such places of joy. Bring tears and feelings of anger for those whose lives were cut short or for trauma brought to survivors by this horrific act of violence.

 

[Sundog]

I loved seeing the videos of the dancers dancing at the studios. Such places of joy. Bring tears and feelings of anger for those whose lives were cut short or for trauma brought to survivors by this horrific act of violence.

Me, too, I loved seeing the videos of the dancers, and as I read the individual tributes, tears flowed for these victims and their families and community.

I think the LA Times staff did an incredible job with this tribute, with the videos and interviews with family members and friends of each of the victims.

They had truly created "Spaces for joy" as one of the family members said. And now they need spaces for healing, which has already started, and hopefully, some time in the future, joy again.

 

[whitelilac]

Brandon Tsay will receive a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department and other recognitions by local officials, the city said.

Brandon Tsay, who disarmed Monterey Park gunman, to be honored at Alhambra Lunar New Year festival

The City of Alhambra, where the Monterey Park gunman was disarmed while trying to attack a second dance studio, is moving forward with its annual Lunar New Year festival on Sunday, one week after t…

ktla.com

 

[Sundog]

Daughter of slain Monterey Park dance hall manager plans to carry on his legacy

Mary Ma, daughter of the beloved manager of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, said her father wouldn't want to let a horrific attack destroy its special community.

www.latimes.com

 

[slowpoke]

I am posting this link about Brandon Tsay from the LATimes, but it is behind a paywall. So, I am paraphrasing here what really touched my heart, and I hope only good things for this young man of quiet strength and courage:

When he was in his first year of Jr College, his mother was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer—terminal. He quit school and took care of his mother for two years, and sought treatments from numerous doctors from 3 countries. His father stayed in the US to work to afford treatments, and his older sister continued going to University, as her mom insisted she do. While living in Taiwan, however, she took a quick downturn and passed away. Brandon alone took care of all the arrangements for a funeral in Taiwan, and for her ashes to be brought to the US with him for an American funeral. He was barely 21 by this time.

His sister says it’s time for her brother to put himself first. She said the rest of the family’s needs came before his up to now, and she realizes how he could have died that day he disarmed the gunman, so she wants her brother to be the priority now, to let him figure out what he wants to do with his life. He’s thinking of going back to school, and he’s also thinking of a government job, having applied as an office asst. for the California Highway Patrol.

I wish him well.

Brandon Tsay disarmed a mass killer. Where does he go from here?

 

[dotr]

State of the Union: How Brandon Tsay is using his sudden fame

Brandon Tsay's life was turned upside down after he disarmed a gunman at a California dance hall.

www.bbc.com

Brandon Tsay receives an award during a Lunar New Year celebration in Alhambra, California
''By Kayla Epstein
BBC News, New York

Brandon Tsay was at home, getting ready to have lunch, when he got a call from the White House.
Would he be free to speak with the President of the United States?
"I said something along the lines of: "No we're about to eat". And then I was like: Oh wait, it's the president!" the 26-year-old told the BBC. "My brain kind of short-circuited there."
The president had good reason to call. Mr Tsay has received praise from his community and the press for disarming a gunman who tore through a Lunar New Year celebration on 21 January, killing 11 people at a Monterey Park, California dance hall and injuring several others.
Mr Tsay's split-second decision elevated the quiet coder to a national hero.
From the other end of the line, Joe Biden thanked Mr Tsay for "taking such incredible action in the face of danger". Then, he invited Mr Tsay to Washington DC.''

 

[whitelilac]

Monterey Park hero honored by President Biden at State of the Union address​

Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old hometown hero who disarmed the Monterey Park mass shooting suspect, received a standing ovation Tuesday night while in attendance at the State of the Union address.

President Biden recognized the 26-year-old while delivering remarks on gun violence.

Monterey Park hero honored by President Biden at State of the Union address

Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old hometown hero who disarmed the Monterey Park mass shooting suspect, received a standing ovation Tuesday night while in attendance at the State of the Union addres…

ktla.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

One of the hosts of Saturday’s event at Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra was Brandon Tsay, who on Jan. 21 famously wrestled a semi-automatic weapon away from the gunman who had earlier shot up Star Ballroom Dance Studio in neighboring Monterey Park.

Tsay, whose family has owned Lai Lai Ballroom for years, said the celebration is an example of the community standing strong and moving forward after the tragedy.

“If you have these strong connections with one another, you’ll be able to support each other, lift each other up, even through times of crisis such as what happened earlier this year,” Tsay said, according to ABC 7.

The event, part of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, featured dancing, live music performances and traditional food. It was organized by the legal-aid nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California.

Investigators haven’t determined a motive for the massacre at Star Ballroom, which also left nine mostly elderly people wounded. The 72-year-old gunman later killed himself in a van he used to flee the Lai Lai Ballroom after being disarmed by Tsay.

Celebration at California dance ballroom a sign of healing following Lunar New Year shooting

ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) — A weekend celebration at a Southern California dance ballroom was hailed by organizers as the latest sign of healing within the Asian American community following the Lunar …

www.fox21news.com

 

[Sundog]

One of the hosts of Saturday’s event at Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra was Brandon Tsay, who on Jan. 21 famously wrestled a semi-automatic weapon away from the gunman who had earlier shot up Star Ballroom Dance Studio in neighboring Monterey Park.

Tsay, whose family has owned Lai Lai Ballroom for years, said the celebration is an example of the community standing strong and moving forward after the tragedy.

“If you have these strong connections with one another, you’ll be able to support each other, lift each other up, even through times of crisis such as what happened earlier this year,” Tsay said, according to ABC 7.

The event, part of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, featured dancing, live music performances and traditional food. It was organized by the legal-aid nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California.

Investigators haven’t determined a motive for the massacre at Star Ballroom, which also left nine mostly elderly people wounded. The 72-year-old gunman later killed himself in a van he used to flee the Lai Lai Ballroom after being disarmed by Tsay.

Celebration at California dance ballroom a sign of healing following Lunar New Year shooting

ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) — A weekend celebration at a Southern California dance ballroom was hailed by organizers as the latest sign of healing within the Asian American community following the Lunar …

www.fox21news.com

This must have been a difficult experience for all, but likely an important step toward healing for the dance community and others. Wise words from the young man, Mr. Tsay.

 

[Sundog]

Star Ballroom – site of Monterey Park mass shooting – on brink of closing for good, owner says

“I don’t think I want to reopen again,” said Maria Liang, owner of Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, site of the Jan. 21 mass shooting.

www.pasadenastarnews.com

 

[Sundog]

Star Ballroom – site of Monterey Park mass shooting – on brink of closing for good, owner says

“I don’t think I want to reopen again,” said Maria Liang, owner of Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, site of the Jan. 21 mass shooting.

www.pasadenastarnews.com

I hope she can find a way to move forward, past the trauma of what happened in that space, so that the community can once again claim it for the important role it served in providing a sense of belonging and happiness to the Monterey Park community.