MONTEREY PARK, Calif. — One brave community member disarmed the Monterey Park, California, mass shooting suspect at a second dance studio after the deadly rampage and prevented further carnage, authorities confirmed Monday.
What to know: About 20 to 30 minutes after the suspected gunman killed 11 people at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran entered Lai Lai Ballroom & Dance Studio in Alhambra, California, with a gun and likely intending to shoot again, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
What police say: Tran was discovered in a white van in the nearby town of Torrance, California, where authorities found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. The individual who disarmed the gunman prevented additional damage, Luna said. “This could have been much worse.”
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‘Brave man’ disarmed gunman who entered Lai Lai Ballroom & Dance
Witnesses at the Lai Lai ballroom in Alhambra, about two miles away from the Monterey Park dance studio, reported seeing the shooter flee to a white van, according to authorities. A similar van was at the site of law enforcement action in TorranceSunday afternoon, where authorities discovered Tran, who was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Tran was likely intending to shoot more people when he entered Lai Lai Ballroom & Dance, according to Luna. Brandon Tsay, 26, who works at the establishment started by his grandparents, wrested a weapon away from him and saved “countless lives,” Luna confirmed on Monday.
Luna praised Tsay’s actions at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“He’s the hero that disarmed the suspect at the Alhambra location, and in my opinion, saved many lives,” Luna said. “What a brave man he is.”
Tsay took a 9 mm semi-automatic assault weapon from Tran at the Lai Lai Ballroom, Luna said.
Luna had previously said Sunday that two people had disarmed the attacker but confirmed Monday that it was one individual. Security footage shown on “Good Morning America” showed only the two men struggling for the gun.
Police discovered a “magazine-fed semiautomatic assault pistol” with an attached large-capacity magazine at the Alhambra studio, according to Luna.
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Tsay briefly spoke with the media outside of his home in San Marino, California, Tuesday evening, saying he wants the attention of the incident not to be on him.
“I want everyone to focus on the victims of this tragic incident, not to draw too much attention to myself. I want everyone to have the attention needed during this incident,” Tsay said.
“The community is still healing right now. We know there are still victims that are still hospitalized, and I think the focus should be there,” said Brandon Tsay’s father, Tom Tsay, who is part-owner of Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in Alhambra.
“Some of these people I know personally. They come to our studio, it’s a tight-knit community and hope they can heal from this tragic event,” Brandon Tsay said.
Tom Tsay said when the gunman was cocking his gun, his son saw the opportunity to jump and wrestle it away.
“I’m very proud. I’ve always told him that if there’s any people robbing the place or whatever, just give him the money… this is a different situation,” Tom Tsay said. “I never prepared him for that.”
Brandon Tsay said he has been overwhelmed by the amount of attention he has received and has slowly begun to take care of himself.
“I would say that my mental health is recovering. I just hope those people that were affected by this incident also can recover safely,” he said.
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Contributing: The Associated Press