Not less than 10 people are suspected dead in a mass shooting at one of the largest Chinese Lunar New Year parties in its area of Los Angeles, California, US.
According to RMG News, the suspected shooter remains at large. Emergency service vehicles have been pictured parked at a cordoned-off crime scene on Garvey Avenue, Los Angeles Times reports.
Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, said three people rushed into his restaurant and told Choi to lock the door. They told him that there was a man with a machine gun in the area, reports Los Angeles Times.
The shooting took place sometime after 10 p.m. near the site of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. Tens of thousands had gathered Saturday for the start of a two-day festival, one of the largest Lunar New Year events in the region.
John, 27, who declined to give his last name, lives near the shooting site. He got home around 10 p.m. and heard about 4-5 gunshots. Then, he heard police cruisers “smashing” down the street. He went downstairs at around 11:20 p.m. to see if the shooting occurred at the Lunar New Year festival.
“My first concern was I know they’re having a Lunar New Year celebration,” he said. But he said he saw that the festival had already been cleaned up for the day when he arrived. He went to the scene of the shooting and saw one person being put on a stretcher. Another person had a bandage on their arm.
According to RMG News, the suspected shooter remains at large.
Chinese Lunar New Year
People across China rang in the Lunar New Year on Sunday with large family gatherings and crowds visiting temples after the government lifted its strict “zero-COVID” policy, marking the biggest festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago.
Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit.
