‘They are smiling upon us’: Monterey Park remembers mass shooting victims after year of healing
Monterey Park paused Sunday, Jan. 21, to reflect on a year since a shooting at local ballroom dance studio left 11 dead. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden offered condolences as well as renewed call for an assault weapons ban.
Monterey Park on Sunday, Jan. 21, paused to remember its darkest day. There were tears. Embraces. But it wasn’t all about looking back.
Throughout the area, its leaders, its heroes, its survivors, urged a healing community to seize the moment to end the kind of violence it endured one year ago and to forge an empowering path forward.
Hundreds came to Monterey Park City Hall, where in the candlelit, crisp night air they remembered the 11 people gunned down in a mass shooting just blocks away exactly one year ago.
“Let’s promise to work together as a community to end gun violence,” said Monterey Park Mayor Jose Sanchez, whose tenure as the top elected official in the city began with candlelight vigils in the wake of the tragedy. “We can honor those that we have lost not just by dancing, but also by sharing their stories and memorializing them. We also honor them by ensuring that no other community has to endure what we’ve endured.”
On that night, gunman Huu Can Tran, 72, of Hemet, entered Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue and opened fire and seriously wounded nine others.
Minutes later, he arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra and attempted to enter before he was stopped by Brandon Tsay, a young man lauded as a life-saving hero.
The gunman, 72, killed himself the following day after he was pulled over by police outside a Torrance strip mall.
But by the next day, 11 people bonded by a love for ballroom dancing were taken: Ming Wei Ma, 72; Yu-Lun Kao, 72; Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Wen-Tau Yu, 64; My My Nhan, 65; Xiujuan Yu, 57; Muoi Dai Ung, 67; Hongying Jian, 62; Chia Ling Yau, 76; Diana Man Ling Tom, 70; LiLan Li, 63.
What was evident Sunday was it is a city striving to move on, but still grieving from the gravity of the tragedy. For loved ones, that struggle is particularly acute as they embrace the community’s support while remembering the lives they’ve lost.
They faced the moment a year later with gratitude.
“My dad Valentino Alvero was one of the victims, and I cannot express to you how much the community support has helped my family and me heal from losing my dad to tragedy,” said Kristenne Reidy. “The shock and the grief that came with their deaths traumatize me so much that every time I was invited to a party, especially one with dancing and singing, I couldn’t help but feel a tremor of sorrow, with my dad’s final moments in the back of my mind.”
At the time it happened, Monterey Park was the 33rd mass shooting in the United States in 2023, and the deadliest. The year would end with 658 mass shootings across country.
Monterey Park’s was the deadliest in L.A. County history — and occurred on the eve of the Lunar New Year in a community that is majority Asian American and is considered the first suburban Chinatown in the nation.
Sunday’s scene in the city was a far cry from the chaos of that day a year ago. And for many, it marked a kind of new beginning.
Around 150 people, including survivors, gathered at a restaurant in Alhambra to celebrate their “rebirth” with their families, friends and supporters.
They set the celebration in motion with a line dance by a group dancers that were at the ballroom at the time of the shooting. It was a symbol of their bravery against adversity, organizers said. Amidst the lively music and the hum of animated conversations, friends hugged and cheered each other.
Among them was retired San Gabriel Lt. Jim Goodman, who sat next to his dance partner, Hattie Pong, at a table. Two shooting survivors, marking a year since. Goodman suffered serious injuries during the shooting, spending his year recovering – and trying to dance again.
“I’m not 100%, but I’m good,” he said. “I can dance for a couple of hours, then my foot is a little sore underneath the heel, but I’m 90% good.”
He still has one bullet in his back, Goodman said, gesturing to his back. The bullet is in deep, so doctors didn’t want to put further stress on it, he explained.
But it wasn’t going to stop him from dancing, because “dancing is an exercise for me,” he said, before hitting the dance floor with Hattie, his dance partner for six years.
“So on the one hand, we are here to honor those who have passed, that are smiling upon us, and to honor the fact that we have a new life together, that we are a new family together, an extended family,” said Eric Chen, a San Gabriel pastor and an organizer of the event.
Over at the now closed Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the shooting happened, early in the afternoon, a lone bouquet of flowers rested on its side outside of the building, a box sitting next to it with a red-tinseled heart-shaped wreath with an arrow through it.
Later, as the vigil got going outside City Hall, under a canopy to protect from rain, there was prayer, Buddhist chanting. A string quintet from Mark Keppel High School echoed. A Tongva blessing was given.
Amid the 250 or so who came to the vigil was Jane Heppert, 63, of Mission Viejo. It was a return trip to the city, where she’s come amid the days of the tragedy to be of any kind of help, with her therapy dog. They were back on Sunday, “handing out free smiles.”
“It’s significant for me because I was here last year. And I saw the grief,” she said. “I can’t imagine this happening in my community. So it’s an honor for us to go to these different events and help the people in the community try and begin healing, and at this point a year later.”
Along the sidewalks leading up to city hall, small paper lanterns light the way. The lanterns are decorated with drawings and sayings such as “Take care of yourself,” and “MPK.” pic.twitter.com/6FFc4cFksO
— Christina Merino (@christinam_love) January 22, 2024
The vigil followed a “Roundtable on Hope and Healing” at the city’s Bruggemeyer Library.
“Together, we are not just victims. We are a community of heroes that thrives for a brighter and safer future.” – Brandon Tsay
It brought together community leaders from L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna to Brandon Tsay to Sheila Wu, director of Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Centers, to discuss strategies for fostering support in a community still recovering.
“There is a lot of anxiety still (in the community). I think,” Wu said in an interview before the roundtable. “Last Saturday, we held a workshop at Lai Lai dance studio, and a lot of folks came out, so we provided mental health support, and they had questions about getting re-traumatized with the anniversary, so we just gave them some prepping.”
By the time the roundtable ended, Brandon Tsay was receiving a standing ovation after offering words paying homage to the victims, but also to resilience.
“Today, I don’t want to be solely about looking back and understanding the sorrow,” said Brandon Tsay. “I wanted to be looking forward to recognize the incredible spirit that has been displayed in our community. These bonds we forged in the midst of such tragedy and adversity has given rise to this united pursuit of hope and mental wellness in public safety. “Together, we are not just victims. We are a community of heroes that thrives for a brighter and safer future.”
The tragedy fueled an ongoing conversation in the United States over the prevention of such violence. And it led to setting up resources to accommodate the demand for mental health resources in Monterey Park.
President Joe Biden visited Monterey Park, consoled each of the victims’ families and announced executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence. He also took a moment during his State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, 2023, to call for increased gun control while acknowledging his invited guest, Brandon Tsay.
Today marks 1 year exactly since the shooting in Monterey Park. So far, a candle and bundle of flowers are set up at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio to honor the 11 dancers killed.
For more info: https://t.co/0jDBJLINm3 pic.twitter.com/QEvJcdQOky
— Victoria Ivie (@vwritesap) January 21, 2024
On Sunday, Biden acknowledged the somber anniversary, while making a renewed call for an assault weapons ban.
On X, he said: “One year ago today, during Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, 11 people were killed in a heinous act of gun violence. Two days later, the tragedy was compounded, as a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay. Jill and I pray for the families of the victims.
“It’s long past time we banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, ended immunity from liability for gun manufacturers, passed a national red flag law, enacted universal background checks, and required safe storage of guns.”
One year ago today, during Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, 11 people were killed in a heinous act of gun violence.
Two days later, the tragedy was compounded, as a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay.
Jill and I pray for the families of the victims. pic.twitter.com/W31PIr2qbR
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 21, 2024
It also amplified efforts by Rep. Judy Chu, a former Monterey Park City Councilwoman and three-time mayor of the city, who has touted two pieces of proposed federal gun-violence prevention legislation — the Language Access to Gun Violence Prevention Strategies Act, and the FLAG, or Fair Legal Access Grants, Act.
She has said the first would ensure multilingual outreach efforts about red flag laws and gun violence prevention, while the second would provide funding to ensure proper legal representation for people seeking to file red flag petitions to keep guns away from people with mental health or other issues precluding them from owning weapons.
Chu noted that local advocates and organizations mobilized and continue to support the victims with translation services, government resources, fundraising and mental health care, as well as long-term assistance at the MPK Hope Resiliency Center at Sierra Vista Park Community Center.
The day was remembered outside of Monterey Park as leaders other than Biden and those gathered at Monterey Park weighed in.
“Today, my heart is with the survivors and families who lost loved ones at a dance studio in Monterey Park,” said former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself nearly killed in a mass shooting in her home state.
On Jan. 8, 2011, a man opened fire during her meet-and-greet event outside a Safeway, killing six people and wounding 13 others, including the congresswoman.
“In the year since (Monterey Park), I’ve been inspired by those who refused to have their joy taken away and found healing in dancing once again.”
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis is preparing a motion for the board’s Tuesday meeting, where the one-year anniversary would be “memorialized” in connection with a Lunar New Year proclamation, ushering in the Year of the Dragon.
“In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon represents many values, including dignity, strength, and renewal. And to me, no community has better exemplified these values than the San Gabriel Valley,” she said.
Back in Monterey Park on Sunday, Monterey Park City Councilmember Thomas Wong reflected on the impact of the tragedy.
“It wasn’t just a Monterey Park tragedy, but one that hit the heart of so many throughout the region,” he said.
Reidy, Alvero’s daughter, echoed the councilman, noting that that heart is still aching.
“There’s still so much healing to do,” Reidy said. But it’s my hope to continue the process of healing together as a community and the city of Monterey Park that’s so dear to our family.”