LUNAR NEW YEAR MASSACRE RECAP: Chinese Lunar New Year gunman was NOT using assault rifle, cops say

Police have revealed that the weapon used by the still-at-large suspect in yesterday's mass shooting was not an assault weapon, as previous reports may have indicated.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna made the revelation Sunday just before noon, during a press conference presided over by officials handling the ongoing case.

When asked by a reporter about the firearm, Luna at first set that his department - which along with the FBI and ATF is probing the shooting - 'doesn't believe it [was] an assault rifle.'

Luna said he did not have details on the victims' ages or other indicators of their respective identities.

He added that police were investigating the chances that a second shooting at Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra was linked to the one in Monterey Park. The sheriff said the shooting in Alhambra saw no one killed, and transpired roughly 20 minutes after the one in Monterey Park.

Unlike the shooting in Monterey Park, police recovered a firearm from the scene, Luna said.

Los Angeles police described the suspect in last night’s shooting as a ‘male Asian’ between the ages of 30 and 50 – offering the information during a news conference on authorities’ progress in the case Sunday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna disclaimed that the description was of the still-at large suspect was a ‘preliminary’ one, while revealing that the gunman who killed 10 at a local dance studio was still on the run.

'Our very preliminary description has been described as a male Asian,' Luna said. 'We’ve gotten different descriptions of one suspect, so when I say it’s preliminary, please be patient with us.'

Luna added that officials 'should be putting out a better description here in next several hours.'

Calling the shooting heinous, Luna asserted that officials ‘are utilizing every resource to apprehend this suspect.’

He also added that some witnesses in the area 'described a white cargo van' as being on the scene, but said that it is 'unknown' whether the vehicle and the shooting are related at this stage of cops' investigation. 'The van should treated as a van of interest at this point,' the sheriff said.

A news conference concerning the shooting and authorities’ investigation is currently in progress.

Los Angeles’ mayor slammed last night’s as ‘absolutely devastating’ in a statement Sunday morning, while criticizing the recent spate of gun violence she said is ‘plaguing our communities.

Democrat Karen Bass made the declaration at roughly 10:30am ET the morning after the tragedy, a predominantly Asian suburb on the eastern edge of her city, where citizens were celebrating the Lunar New Year.

‘Families deserve to celebrate the holidays in peace- mass shootings and gun violence are a plague in our communities,’ Bass said in a signed statement shared to Twitter.

She added that as cops continued to prope ‘whether these murders were motivated by Asian hate, we continue to stand united against all attempts to divide us.

‘My heart goes out to Monterey Park and the families and friends of those lost.’

Los Angeles is set roughly eight miles west of Monterey Park, withing the Greater LA Area.

California’s governor slammed Saturday’s mass shooting as ‘a horrific and heartless act of gun violence’ in a statement aired on social media.

Taking to Twitter at 10:14 am, recently re-elected Democrat Gavin Newsom expressed his distaste over the tragedy, which transpired at a “ballroom dance location” in the predominantly Asian suburb where revellers had been ringing in the Lunar New Year.

‘Monterey Park should have had a night of joyful celebration of the Lunar New Year,’ Newsom wrote, chiding the suspect for creating unrest on a night meant for family and festivities.

He added: ‘Our hearts mourn as we learn more about the devastating acts of last night. We are monitoring the situation closely.’

In a separate tweet moments before, the governor’s office remarked how Newsome had been briefed on the shooting, and that ‘no one should have to fear going to a celebration with their community.’

The statement assured that 'our thoughts are with the victims and all those impacted.’

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she is ‘heartbroken by the horrific shooting in Monterey Park’ Sunday, which she said came at what should have been a time of ‘celebration.’

‘At what should be a time of Lunar New Year celebration, the scourge of gun violence has struck yet another community,’ the Democrat said of the Saturday night shooting that transpired at an LA suburb dance studio

‘We must put an end to these senseless tragedies,’ Hochul added, referencing the increasing commonality of incidents of gun violence in the us.

The shooting last night, which police said took place at a unnamed ‘ballroom dance location’ at about 10:22pm, marked the fifth mass shooting in the country this month, after a year of a high profile shootings in 2022.

The massacre – which left at least ten dead and another ten injured - is deadliest since the highly publicized bloodbath in Uvalde, Texas, eight months ago, which killed 21.

Less than a month into the year, another 32 people have died in mass shootings - in Utah, Ohio, California and North Carolina . It is the first time in more than fifteen years that there have been five mass shootings in the first three weeks of the year, records show.

The mayor of nearby Alhambra, roughly two miles from Monterey Park, lamented Sunday how Saturday’s mass shooting occurred during festivities for Lunar New Year, given the city's large Asian American population.  

‘To have this tragedy occur on Lunar New Year weekend, makes this especially painful,’ Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez wrote on social media Sunday morning, before citing the city’s pronounced Asian demographic - roughly 65% of its estimated 59,600 residents.

‘Monterey Park is home to one of the largest #AAPI communities in the country,’ Pérez added. ‘This is a time when residents should be celebrating with family, friends and loved ones - not fearing gun violence.’

The shooting transpired Saturday night at a dance studio where patrons were ringing in the Lunar New Year, which is typically celebrated by Chinese and other Asian cultures. Cops said Sunday that it is still too early to say whether the shooting was racially motivated or not.

President Joe Biden is aware of the shooting that transpired Saturday in Monterey Park, the White House has announced – and has enlisted the FBI to help cops hunt for a suspect that stormed a ballroom dance studio with an assault rifle.

The revelation came in the form of a statement from the Oval Office Sunday morning, roughly 11 hours after the mass killing – the fifth in the US this month alone.

At 8:45 am, White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote that that Biden ‘has been briefed’ about the tragedy – which saw at least 10 killed - by homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.

According to Jean-Pierre, during this meeting, Biden directed Sherwood-Randall ‘to make sure that the FBI is providing full support to local authorities, and to update him regularly today as more details are known.’

Cops in Monterey Park – a small suburb in Eastern Los Angeles– are set to deliver a press conference to provide updates on the shooting, as well as their search for a suspect. Little is known about the shooter, who cops Sunday said was a male with an ‘assault’ weapon. He fled the scene and remains at large.

At least ten people have been killed and another ten rushed to hospital after a mass shooting at a dance club in in Monterey Park, a suburb in east Los Angeles.

The incident took place around 10.30 pm local time Saturday, cops said Sunday, announcing that the suspect - who shot at least 20 patrons in total, 10 fatally - is still at large.

Capt. Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said that thongs of terrified festivalgoers streamed out of the night club, 'screaming' after bullets continued to fly. A man with an assault-style rifle reportedly opened fire at the ballroom, where a Chinese Lunar New Year event was being held.

'When officers arrived on scene, they observed numerous individuals, patrons of the location, pouring out of the location, screaming. The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims,' Meyer said.

Horrifying pictures showed victims being stretched from the scene before being rushed to hospital as cops and ambulances swarmed the street outside the establishment.

Police gave no description of the male suspect, after providing no information  for hours while the shooter remained on the run. He remains at large.