Start here
Monterey Park mass shooting: Inside the dance studio where the tragedy happened
The creator's telling of the case, the strongest entry point on file.
Watch on YouTubeWhat happened
On the night of January 21, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, a city in the San Gabriel Valley with a majority Asian American population. The attack took place at about 10:22 p.m. PST, after an all-day Lunar New Year festival had drawn tens of thousands of people to a nearby street. The studio was hosting a Lunar New Year countdown dance party unaffiliated with the festival. Police responded within three minutes of the first 9-1-1 call and found people fleeing and screaming. Ten people were pronounced dead at the scene, and ten others were taken to hospitals; an eleventh victim later died at LAC+USC Medical Center. The gunman fired 42 rounds using a Cobray M-11/9 semi-automatic pistol with an illegal high-capacity magazine, purchased in Monterey Park in 1999 but never registered.
Approximately 17 minutes after fleeing Monterey Park, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in nearby Alhambra, apparently intending to continue the attack. Brandon Tsay, whose family owns the business, confronted the gunman in the lobby, wrestled the weapon from him, and chased him off the premises. Authorities credited Tsay with preventing further deaths. The seized weapon allowed police to identify the suspect as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran.
Tran fled in a stolen van. Police took several hours to publicly announce that a suspect was at large, a delay the city's new police chief attributed to concerns about accuracy and about alarming the largely Asian American community based on limited descriptive information. On the morning of January 22, police located and stopped a matching van in Torrance, roughly 22 miles from Alhambra. As officers approached, they heard a gunshot from inside the vehicle and retreated to call in tactical units. During the ensuing standoff, officers observed Tran slumped over the steering wheel; he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The ten victims who died at the scene were Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Hongying Jian, 62; Yu Lun Kao, 72; Lilan Li, 63; Ming Wei Ma, 72 (the studio's owner and manager); Mymy Nhan, 65; Muoi Dai Ung, 67; Chia Ling Yau, 76; Wen-Tau Yu, 64; and Xiujuan Yu, 57. Diana Man Ling Tom, 70, died the following day at the hospital. Witnesses reported that Ma was the first to rush the gunman and was killed, and that another victim, Yu Lan Kao, was killed while shielding others.
A search of Tran's Hemet residence after the shooting recovered a bolt-action rifle, ammunition, items suggesting suppressor manufacturing, and a letter addressed to law enforcement whose contents were not released. Tran had a documented history of paranoid complaints to police over several decades, including allegations of poisoning and threats, and had visited the Hemet police station days before the shooting with similar claims. The shooting became the deadliest mass shooting in Los Angeles County history. In January 2025, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of several victims against Tran's estate and the Star Ballroom, alleging failure to protect patrons.
