AAPI Communities Mourn Shooting Victims

The Asian American Pacific Islander community is mourning the loss of at least 10 people killed in the shooting during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, CA.

"The AAPI community is once again mourning in the aftermath of another act of gun violence," the AAPI Victory Alliance said in a statement. "On the eve of what was to be a celebration for our community, this senseless tragedy in Monterey Park reminds us of the struggle that our community continues to endure because of America's violent history."

The organization said polling data shows that last year, rising gun violence was the "greatest concern" in the AAPI community.

"Sadly, the gun industry and the NRA have taken advantage of continued rising hate and violence against the AAPI community as a tactic to market and sell us even more guns," the statement said.

The AAPI Victory Alliance said it continues to call on Congress to enact more "meaningful and effective gun safety legislation."

A vigil hosted by the AAPI Legislative Caucus will be held at the Capitol building in Sacramento, CA Monday, Jan. 23 at 2:30 p.m.

"This informal gathering will serve as a safe space for our community and our allies to come together in solidarity," the AAPILC said in a statement.

Dance Studio Owner Reportedly Among Victims

One of the survivors of the Monterey Park shooting says the owner of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio was among the victims killed when the gunman opened fire during the Lunar New Year celebration.

Witnesses said Ming Wei Ma was killed trying to save others.

Ma's friend Eric Chen told reporters that "Mr. Ma" was very well respected in the dance community and was a beloved dance instructor.

"According to the chat, he was the first to rush the shooter," the victim's friend Eric Chen told KCAL-TV. "He was just caring and... people first kind of person."

Chen said it is "heartbreaking and it's unthinkable that it would happen."

Woody Lin, a news director for Sino TV, one of the largest Chinese media groups in the United States, said his reporter spoke to friends of Ma.

"May was actually inside the dance studio," Lin told KCAL. "When that happened she just happened to be lucky, and she went to the restroom."

She said that by the time she came out, there was a level of chaos and violence that she said will never make sense.

My Nhan's Family Releases Statement

The family of My Nhan, one of 10 people killed in the Saturday night shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, released a statement in response to her death Monday morning.

Nhan's family said news of her death is "still sinking in."

Nhan spent "so many years" going to the dance hall, her family said, because it was "what she loved to do."

"We are starting the Lunar New Year broken," the statement said. "We never imagined her life would end so suddenly."

Nhan, 65, is one of two victims who has been publicly identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, according to local media reports. Names of the eight other victims have not yet been released.

Nhan's family described her "warm smile and kindness" as "contagious."

"She was a loving aunt, sister, daughter and friend," her family's statement said. "Mymy was our biggest cheerleader."

Survivor Says Dance Partner Was Shot, Saved Her Life

One survivor says her friend and long-time dance partner saved her during the deadly Monterey Park shooting over the weekend.

The survivor, who identified herself to KABC-TV at Shally, was dancing with her friend at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio when the gunman opened fire.

She said she and her partner, a 62-year-old man she did not want to identify, hid under a table. When the gunman left, she tried to wake up her friend before realizing he was shot in the back.

The shooting stopped, but only for the gunman to go outside and reload his weapon.

Shally said when the gunfire finally ended, two of her friends were dead.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a news conference Sunday that the coroner's office is still working to identify the victims. He added that their ages range from 50s, 60s and above.

Survivor at Second Dance Hall Disarmed Gunman

A man who disarmed the Monterey Park shooter on Saturday night said he could tell the gunman was "looking for people" when the shooter entered his family's dance hall in Alhambra.

The gunman entered the Alhambra dance hall about 20 minutes after carrying out a mass shooting at another dance hall in Monterey Park, authorities said. Twenty-six-year-old Brandon Tsay told The New York Times he was near the lobby of his family's dance hall when he saw the shooter walk in. He told the paper the shooter was aiming a semiautomatic assault pistol and "not hiding that he was trying to do harm."

Law enforcement officials said Sunday that two people were involved in disarming the gunman, but Tsay's family has said security footage from their event space shows Tsay was the only one to confront the shooter.

"My first thought was, I was gonna die here. This was it," Tsay said during an interview with ABC News.

Tsay later said he "realized I needed to get the weapon away from him, disarm him, or else everyone else would have died."

Names of Two Victims Released

The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has identified two of the victims killed in the Monterey Park shooting over the weekend.

My Nhan, 65, and Lilan Li, 64, were among the 10 people killed, multiple news outlets report.

The names of the other eight victims have not yet been released, but we're learning most of the victims were at least 60-years-old.

Two women in their 60s and one in her 50s were killed. Of the five men killed, three were in their 70s and two were in their 60s.

Shooter Motive May Be Linked to Ex-Wife, Mayor Says

The suspected gunman in the deadly Monterey Park shooting may have visited the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in the past, authorities said.

Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo told NBC's "TODAY Show" Monday that authorities understand that the alleged shooter, Huu Can Tran, may have had "a history of visiting this dance hall," where the shooting occurred.

"Perhaps motivation has to do with some personal relationships, but that's something that I think investigators are uncovering and investigating," he said.

The shooter's motive remains under investigation. However, Lo told CNN that the suspect allegedly met his ex-wife at the dance hall.

In an interview with the outlet, his ex-wife, who asked not the be named, said she met Tran at the dance studio two decades ago. She said that Tran could be quick to anger, but was never violent towards her.

A source close to Tran also told CNN that he lived about a five minute drive from the dance hall in San Gabriel.

Tran often complained at the time that the instructors at the dance hall didn't like him and said "evil things about him," the friend said. He added that Tran was "hostile to a lot of people there."