California
There have again been several fatalities from gunfire in the United States. According to eyewitnesses, a man shot himself with an automatic rifle, according to the police, nine people died. The attack happened on the fringes of a Chinese New Year celebration.
The incident happened on Saturday evening shortly after 10:00 p.m. (local time, 7:00 a.m. CET on Sunday) in Monterey Park, an eastern suburb of the metropolitan area of Los Angeles. For the time being, little information was available, the sheriff’s department put the number of dead at nine. A motive was just as unknown as the shooter. It was unclear where he was staying, it said.
The shots rang out around the site of a Chinese New Year celebration in Monterey Park, US media reported. Tens of thousands of people had attended the festival earlier in the day.
Crime scene apparently dance club
The owner of a restaurant near the crime scene told the Los Angeles Times that three people ran into his restaurant and asked him to lock the door. They said the shooter was carrying enough ammo that he could keep reloading. The incident apparently happened in a dance club. Resident Wong Wei told the newspaper his girlfriend was in the bathroom at the club when she heard gunshots. She later saw an armed man and three bodies – two women and the owner of the club.
Footage released on social networks showed injured people on stretchers. Roads were cordoned off around the scene of the shooting.
“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring town of Monterey Park where a shooting just took place,” tweeted Kenneth Mejia of the City of Los Angeles.
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles County, approximately seven miles from downtown Los Angeles.
