At least 10 were reported dead in the mass shooting incident that occurred in Monterey Park, California on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The shooting took place after 10pm around the location of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held in Monterey Park, said reports.
1/ #USA
— David Kime (@CyberRealms1) January 22, 2023
There was a shooting in Monterey Park in California, killing 10 people. At least 9 more were injured.
At the time, the neighbourhood was celebrating Chinese New Year. According to police, the attacker is still at large, his motives are unknown. pic.twitter.com/tyCQxBT9Mn
However, it is unclear to how many people had been injured or killed during the incident. Several injured were reported to be in critical condition.
According to BBC, an eyewitness told Lost Angeles Times that three people ran into his restaurent and told him to lock the door as there was a man with a machine gun in the area. Thousands of people had earlier gathered in the city for the Monterey Park Lunar New Year festival, reported BBC.
Videos on the social media showed police personnel deployed in the area. Monterey Park has a population of about Rs 60,000 people. The annual Lunar New Year Festival is a weekend long event that draws hundreds of visitors.
US President Joe Biden was briefed about the shooting and sought regular updates. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted, “The President has been briefed by the Homeland Security Advisor on the mass shooting in Monterey Park. He directed her to make sure that the FBI is providing full support to local authorities, and to update him regularly today as more details are known.”
Police said it was too early to say whether it was a targeted shooting. Police also investigated whether the Monterey Park shooting had any relation to shootings at Alhambra. None was injured in the Alhambra shooting, police said.
