Police in California responded to reports of a shooting that happened following a large Lunar New Year celebration in the east Los Angeles community of Monterey Park late Saturday.
According to multiple media reports, the shooting happened in Monterey Park just after 10 pm, with one witness telling the LA Times that they believed the shooting happened at a local dance club.
LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia, an official in the local Los Angeles government, posted a tweet sharing condolences after the news broke.
“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” he tweeted. “Monterey Park is home to one of the largest Asian communities in Los Angeles County, and many were out celebrating the Lunar New Year.”
Many details about the shooting remain unclear, including the number of casualties. However, the LA Times reports that internal police communication state that there have been fatalities.
A witness named Seung Won Choi, who owns a restaurant in the vicinity of the shooting, told the LA Times that three people “rushed” into his restaurant and told him to lock his door.
The newspaper continues to report that the people told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun and multiple rounds of ammunition in the area.
Earlier in the day, thousands of people had gathered in Monterey Park for the Lunar New Year festival. Saturday was the start of the two-day festival, and it is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California, AP reported.
The Monterey Park government website says that past Lunar New Year events in Monterey Park have “drawn crowds estimated at over 100,000 visitors per day from all over the Southern California area.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
