USC community reacts after mass shooting


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The USC Pacific Asia Museum canceled its Lunar New Year Festival scheduled for Sunday after a gunman opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park late Saturday night. 

“All of us at USC PAM are heartbroken to hear about the horrific violence that happened in our home in the San Gabriel Valley,” said Dr. Bethany Montagano, USC Pacific Asia Museum director, in a statement on the museum’s website. “Our hearts mourn with the victims’ families and our community members at this time.”

University President Carol Folt said she was “grief-stricken” in a tweet Sunday morning, and urged those impacted in the community to reach out for support.

The shooting occurred at 10:22 p.m. near the site of Monterey Park’s Lunar New Year’s Eve festival, which had concluded earlier in the evening. The Lunar New Year’s Day celebration, planned for Sunday, was canceled.

Ten people were killed and the injured victims are being cared for at various hospitals in the Los Angeles area, including the L.A. County-USC Medical Center, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday morning. Injuries range from minor to life-threatening. The identities of the victims have not been announced. 

Luna also confirmed that the same shooter entered a similar ballroom in Alhambra 17 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting. Patrons at the ballroom wrestled the weapon out of his hands before he fled the scene, and no one was injured.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has not announced a motive at the time of publication, and said they could not yet determine whether the shooting was connected to the Lunar New Year festival. Chinese Chamber of Commerce chairman Chester Chong said to ABC7 on Sunday morning that the shooting may have been the result of intimate partner violence. 

In a press conference broadcasted as part of ABC7 coverage — led by Jim McDonnell, the director of the USC Safe Communities Institute — Luna said the department could not confirm whether the weapon used was a high-powered assault rifle. SWAT teams on Sunday afternoon barricaded a white van connected to the suspect in Torrance, in which the driver was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

This shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since May, when 19 children and two teachers were killed in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 

“As we’re looking for the suspect, we will not forget the victims and survivors,” Luna said. 

A victim resource center has been created at the Langley Senior Center in Monterey Park, and a memorial for victims has been erected at the Monterey Park City Hall. 

For mental health support, community members can call the 24/7 USC Student Health line at 213-740-9355 or email [email protected].

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.