MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — Dozens of police officers responded to reports of a shooting that occurred after a large Lunar New Year celebration Saturday night in a town east of Los Angeles.
Authorities did not immediately release information about the shooting in Monterey Park, a town of about 60,000 with a large Asian-American population about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from downtown Los Angeles.
Thousands of people had attended the annual festival that day.
Seung Won Choi, owner of the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting took place, told the Los Angeles Times that three people had run up to his business and asked him to block the door.
Those people told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun who was carrying several rounds of ammunition to be able to reload. Choi said he believed the shooting took place at a nightclub.
The event occurred after 10:00 p.m., according to the newspaper.
A two-day festival kicked off Saturday, one of the biggest Lunar New Year events in southern California.
