Lunar New Year shooting: Surveillance video shows man disarming Monterey Park mass shooting suspect
LOS ANGELES - Surveillance video from inside the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra shows the moments a man disarmed Huu Can Tran, the gunman suspected of killing eleven people during a mass shooting in Monterey Park during a Lunar New Year celebration.
Video shows the 72-year-old gunman hiding in the corner of what appears to be the entryway of the ballroom. A civilian, later identified as Brandon Tsay, sees Tran and wrestles him for his gun. Within a minute or two, Tsay was able to successfully disarm Tran. The suspect then walks away as Tsay grabs his phone to call for help.
"It was Chinese New Years. We were hosting a social dance party. I was in the lobby, it was late into the evening, most of our customers already left. I wasn’t paying attention to the front door, I was looking into the dance ballroom, the dance floor," Tsay, who is an employee of the Lai Lai Ballroom said. "This is when I heard the sound of the front door creaking closing, instantly followed by the sound of a metal object clinking together as if they were rubbing. That is when I turned around and saw there was an Asian man holding a gun. My first thought was ‘I was going to die here, this was it.'"
Tsay said Tran, whom he did not recognize, was "looking around the room... like he was looking for targets, people to harm."
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"This is when he started prepping the weapon and something came over me, I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him, I needed to take this weapon, disarm him or else everybody would have died," Tsay told ABC News. Police say Tran was carrying a semi-automatic pistol.
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna called Tsay a ‘hero’ who ‘saved many lives’.
Tran went to the Alhambra ballroom shortly after killing 10 people at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park. After his encounter with Tsay at Lai Lai Ballroom, Tran was able to escape.
RELATED: Lunar New Year massacre: All victims of the Monterey Park mass shooting identified
Law enforcement officials found Tran Sunday morning inside a white van in Torrance. Officials say Tran died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a SWAT standoff.
In total, 11 people died during the mass shooting. Ten died at the scene and the eleventh person died the following day from their injuries.
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