California police found the body of a man suspected of killing 10 people at a dance hall in Monterey Park in the state, following a long chase for the vehicle he was traveling in.
The police surrounded the vehicle and found a dead body inside, according to AFP, which said that the authorities will hold a conference on Monday during which they may confirm that this body actually belongs to the same man who opened fire in Monterey Park, an Asian-majority city that witnessed the killing.
Police in Southern California on Sunday hunted the suspect behind the shooting that killed 10 people at a discotheque during Lunar New Year celebrations.
During the chase, the police surrounded a white vehicle, and then the policemen approached the vehicle very cautiously.
AFP pictures show a lifeless body in the front of the vehicle. The Los Angeles Times reported, citing a police source, that the driver shot himself.
At least 10 other people were wounded in the shooting in Monterey Park, which was carried out by the gunman, who police described as an Asian man, witnesses said.
Earlier, Los Angeles Police Chief Robert Luna said, “We are using every resource to apprehend this suspect in what we believe is one of the most egregious cases in the county.”
Luna said that the police responded to emergency calls at 10:22 pm on Saturday (06:22 GMT Sunday) and found people running out of the place.
“Unfortunately, the firefighters announced that 10 victims were killed at the site,” he added.
Officials said the dead were five women and five men, without giving their ages or names.
Luna indicated that at least ten people were wounded, some of them critically.
Luna described a second incident in the city of Alhambra that occurred approximately 20 minutes following the attack in Monterey Park.
In the details, an Asian man carrying a gun entered a discotheque, but he was trapped and disarmed.
The man fled, and no injuries were reported.
Alhambra is regarding two miles north of Monterey. Luna said investigators are looking into whether the two incidents are related.
And Monterey Park is located a few kilometers from the center of Los Angeles and is home to regarding 60,000 people, most of whom are Asians or Asian Americans.
“We don’t know if this particular crime is a hate crime under the law,” Luna said. “But who walks into a discotheque and shoots regarding 20 people?”
US President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter that he and his wife, Jill, are “praying for the souls of those killed and wounded in last night’s bloody shooting in Monterey Park,” adding, “I am watching the situation closely.”
Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park.
I’m monitoring this situation closely as it develops, and urge the community to follow guidance from local officials and law enforcement in the hours ahead.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 22, 2023
The Canadian Prime Minister sent his condolences, tweeting, “My heart goes out to the people of Monterey Park.”
My heart breaks for the people of Monterey Park, California – whose Lunar New Year celebrations were violently attacked and whose lives have been forever changed. I’m sending my condolences to the families and friends of the victims, and I’m keeping the injured in my thoughts. https://t.co/vt1nB0sfXq
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 22, 2023
Wong Wei, a local resident, told the Los Angeles Times that his girlfriend was at the disco but was in the bathroom when the shooting started.
When she left, she saw a gunman shooting indiscriminately, three bodies belonging to two women and a person identified as the manager of the place.
The newspaper reported that Song Woon Choi, who owns a seafood restaurant near the scene of the incident, said that three people rushed to his restaurant and told him to lock the door.
And these three said that there is a man carrying a semi-automatic pistol with several rounds of ammunition, and he reloads the weapon every time he runs out of ammunition, Choi told the newspaper.
And the newspaper “The Times” reported that tens of thousands of people gathered earlier in the day to participate in the two-day Lunar New Year celebrations, knowing that it is one of the largest celebrations on this occasion in Southern California.
“My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and the people of my city,” former Monterey Park mayor Judy Chu wrote.
Chu said she had been there hours before the shooting, when the crowd was larger, adding, “It might have been worse.”
Gun violence is a major crisis in the United States, with more than 600 mass shootings taking place in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The shootings have revived debate over gun controls, although there has been little progress in Congress on adopting reforms.
More than 44,000 people died of gunshot wounds in 2022, and more than half of them were suicides.
One in three adults in the United States owns at least one gun, and one in two adults lives in a household with a gun.
