Horror in LA as gunman kills 10 at Chinese Lunar New Year fest

Monterey Park: Sending shock waves through the Asian-American community in the USA, a gunman killed 10 people and wounded 10 others at a Los Angeles-area ballroom dance club following a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, setting off a manhunt for the suspect in the fifth mass killing in the US this month.

Capt. Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said Sunday that the wounded were taken to hospitals and their conditions range from stable to critical. He said the 10 people died at the scene in the city of Monterey Park.

Meyer gave no description of the male suspect or the weapon he used, or why police gave no information on the shooting for hours while the shooter remained on the run. He also said police were investigating another incident in the nearby city of Alhambra to see whether it was connected.

Meyer said it's too early in the investigation to know if the gunman knew anyone at the ballroom or if it was a hate crime or not. The Lunar New Year celebration had attracted thousands. Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people that sits at the eastern edge of Los Angeles. The majority of its residents are Asian immigrants or their descendants, most of them Chinese.

The dance studio in downtown Monterey Park is just a few blocks from city hall on its main thoroughfare of Garvey Avenue, which is dotted with strip malls that are full of small businesses whose signs are in both English and Chinese.

Cantonese and Mandarin are both widely spoken, Chinese holidays are celebrated, and Chinese films are screened in the city. Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told The Los Angeles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.