Monterey Park mass shooting: 'I'll never be able to feel safe here again'
Hours after news surfaced of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, residents were reeling over the loss of life.
"I've never seen a freakin' gun in Monterey Park, but it was here and it took the lives of 10 people, and another 10 are in the hospital right now fighting for their lives and they're fighting over their right to live," shared one resident. "I feel a sense of great loss about the home that I always had. It's just gone. I'll never be able to feel safe here again."
According to authorities, officers from the Monterey Park Police Department responded to a "shots fired" call at a dance studio Saturday night on the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park.
"When officers arrived on scene, they observed numerous individuals - patrons of the location - pouring out of the location, screaming," said Capt. Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Ten of the victims were pronounced deceased at the scene. At least 10 other victims were transported to various hospitals where they were listed in various conditions from stable to critical.
A witness who did not want to be identified was inside the ballroom when the shooting happened. She told KCAL News the suspect was looking for his ex-wife and found her at the event. She said that's when he started shooting.
"I just saw him, to shoot, to hold the gun, so I run and I hide myself," the witness recalled.
Hours later, a victim's assistance center was set up at the Langley Senior Center located at 400 W. Emerson in Monterey Park, offering resources and experts for those in the community impacted by this weekend's mass shooting.
Saturday's shooting marked the fifth mass shooting this year, and worst mass shooting in LA County since 2008. It is also the deadliest since May 24, 2022 - when 21 people were killed in a school in Uvalde, Texas, according to The Associated Press/USA Today database on mass killings in the U.S.
