At least ten people were killed after a gunman opened fire following a Lunar New Year celebration in Los Angeles. The shooting occurred at a business on Garvey Ave in Monterey Park, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department official confirmed.
The shooter is a male, Sergeant Bob Boese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was reported as saying by AP.
US media reported a shooting in Monterey Park on Saturday night, with multiple casualties feared. However, for hours, there was no official information on the reports of the shooting.
WHERE THE SHOOTING TOOK PLACE
The mass shooting took place at Monterey Park, which is a city of about 60,000 people with a large Asian population that’s about 16 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.
The shooting took place after 10 pm (6 am GST) on Saturday night at around the location of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held in Monterey Park. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had attended the festival.
Seung Won Choi, owner of Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told the Los Angles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.
Choi said that he was told that there was a shooter with a machine gun who had multiple rounds of ammunition on him so he could reload.
WHAT IS LUNAR NEW YEAR?
Families from China to the US to Vietnam marked the Lunar New Year on Sunday. It is considered the most important annual holiday in China, with each year named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit.
The celebration involves large family gatherings and crowds visiting temples. The customs among families also includes elaborate dinners and red envelopes with money for children.
