Monterey Park capturing: Sheriff provides crucial beneficial properties on shooter, incident

This is occurring at Monterey Park City Hall Sheriff Luna among those speaking good morning and local officials my name is Serena Rodriguez I'm captain at the sheriff's information Bureau Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna Monterey Park police chief Scott Weiss Monterey Park mayor Henry Lowe representing the first district.

Supervisor Hilda Solis congressmember Judy Chu and FBI assistant director Don Elway at the end we will be available for questions thank you first of all I thank you for your patience I know it took us a little bit to get out here but we're doing a lot of very important work behind the scenes.

Uh it's uh gives me a great sadness to be standing before you uh to report such a devastating uh news never easy to do something like this because it's absolutely heartbreaking and our thoughts condolences and prayers go out not only to the victims their family but this Monterey Park Community and really the entire Community because I think.

We're all going to be hurting uh based on this this tragedy on Saturday January 21st 2023 at approximately 10 22 p.m officers from the Monterey Monterey Park Police Department responded to a business in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue in the city of Monterey Park regarding a shots fired call.

When officers arrived at the location they observed numerous victims and patrons in the business parking lot additional officers made entry into the business and located numerous gunshot victims Monterey Park fire department responded to the scene and started to treat the injured and I do want to point out.

These police officers that get there they don't hesitate they go in right away and then our partners at the fire department and not only the Monterey Park fire department but many others who came to assist the victims survivors who needed assistance they were at least 10 additional victims transported to numerous local hospitals.

But I do want to start off with saying that unfortunately when the fire department did get into the business they did pronounce 10 of the victims deceased at the scene that I just described but the 10 additional victims were transported to numerous local hospitals they are listed in.

Various conditions from stable to critical condition there is a male suspect that fled the scene and remains outstanding as of this moment our very preliminary description has been described as a male Asian and that's from the scene here in Monterey Park.

And uh it it's taken us a while and please be patient with us because as we're interviewing victims and Witnesses we've gotten different descriptions of one suspect so when I say it's preliminary please again be patient with us we are here to tell you that we are utilizing every resource to apprehend uh.

This suspect and what we believe to be one of the County's most heinous cases our local state and federal law enforcement agencies are working together to better serve uh the residents here of Los Angeles County and to apprehend uh this attacker Sheriff's homicide investigators are working diligently.

With the Monterey Park Police Department the Federal Bureau of Investigation the California governor's office of emergency services and numerous other law enforcement agencies bottom line is here we're going to use every resource available to us because we need to get this person off the street as soon as possible but again.

We are still in the very early stages of this investigation and there's probably there actually is a lot more that we don't know than what we know at this time um as I said earlier the men and women of the sheriff's department joined me in extending our condolences uh to the countless families affected by this.

Senseless shooting and they will remain constantly on the minds of our investigators who I see it in their eyes they want to get this guy and they're going to so I also want you to know uh questions that are being asked is this related to the other event here in the city of Monterey Park or any concerns about any.

Other Chinese New Year events we are working here you see all the partners behind me including the FBI we've been doing threat assessments throughout the morning are they connected honestly we don't we don't know the answer to that yet it may or may not be so as we look at other events we will make sure that we step up our presence from the Los.

Angeles County Sheriff's Department we will be in communication with other law enforcement agencies we already have been to make sure that security is a top priority at any event and that's not to indicate that we think there's a threat there we're just taking every precaution that we can we don't want anybody else to get hurt as a matter of fact I'll be.

Attending another Chinese New Year's Event later on in a couple of hours and I encourage people to go out and enjoy the events it's it's a time from that perspective to celebrate although this is a very sad occasion so I now want to introduce to you my partner the chief of police of the Monterey.

Park Police Department chief Scott Weiss thank you and by the way we'll be available for questions after everybody is done speaking thank you thank you good morning everybody my name is Scott Weiss I'm the police chief for the city of Monterey Park as the sheriff explained to you my.

Officers responded last night to this call we've been working with our County state and federal Partners to help in this investigation it's a large investigation that will go on for many days and perhaps many months my concern now is the safety of the city of Monterey Park.

My officers are on duty I brought in extra officers from home to make sure that the community is safe we will continue to patrol this community and respond to anything that happens here we're going to remain very diligent and we hope the community becomes closer partners with us than this and is able.

To share any information they have with the sheriff's Homicide Bureau in the city of Monterey Park as the days go on we will continue to be very diligent about protecting this city our Lunar New Year event that was going to occur close to where our our crime occurred has been canceled today for obvious reasons.

And all of us at the department all of my officers have responded all of my professional staff are very serious about catching this suspect and bringing him the justice and that's our number one goal here thank you thank you Chief whis and I want to first.

Thank sharafluna the FBI the state emergency services and all of the law enforcement agencies who have been working with us for past few hours investigating this very tragic event it's difficult to believe that it happened here in Monterey Park we want.

To express our condolences to the victims and their families and moving forward you know it is important that we be there for them to provide services and support they need and what will be a time of healing in next week's months if not years we also want to just thank uh of everyone who has uh we have their.

Support for Monterey Park again we are a small community in Singapore Valley but we're part of the larger Southern California region family and we've been it's been very um comforting to see to support the output of support that's been here for our community and our families and again thank you so much to our own Police Department who every day.

Protects this community and this is a diverse Community um every there was convenient yesterday we kicked off our lunar celebration and our Police Department I'm very much aware of this diversity also has within its ranks those who are multilingual as well Multicultural and I want to rest assure I want the community to be rest.

Assured that our police department will continue every day to detect the safety of everyone who lives in Monterey Park thank you I'm sorry um my name is Henry Lowe I am the mayor for city of Monterey Park thank you I'm sorry h-e-n-r-y laughing spelled l-o thank you good morning supervisor Hilda Solis representing the first district first of.

All I'm devastated my heart is broken to hear that just after a very beautiful event that many of us here attended yesterday to hear about the loss of 10 lives a mass shooting that occurred here in Monterey Park our very own Community as well as those 10 individuals that are injured first of all I want to commend the uh police department here in.

Monterey Park the city of Monterey Park for being so diligent as well as our our Sheriff our new Shara Luna who's done already an outstanding job but I also want to thank the community itself because we continue to be resilient this is unfortunate uh Happening Here on the on the day that we celebrate it's a holiday that is so well respected and.

Celebrated by so many in the aapi community and just yesterday to see hundreds of thousands of people on the street on Garvey to know that people could come out after the pandemic to celebrate to see family to see children to see our elderly to know that this was a place of welcoming people would come here for many many years knowing that.

This was a place of acceptance of diversity of immigrants and it's unfortunate what occurred we're praying for those that lost their lives and their families and for those that are currently in our care and that are injured I know that at least four of those individuals are at our LAC USC medical trauma hospital and I want to.

Thank the I want to thank the medical staff that has been there up all night providing the services and helping those to heal we have much more prayers to provide for our community as you know hate crime is nothing new for some some in our community especially the aapi community and that's why almost three years ago the County Board of.

Supervisors took action right on the cusp of covid when we saw assaults against people of Asian descent so we know this is a problem and we have to confront it but I hope today that we remain United and that when we see something we say something and as the sheriff said we know that this is a a day of a solemn moment but we also know.

That the Lunar New Year means so much to our aapi communities and this is a time of reflection and prayer so I know I will do whatever I can in my capacity working with all of our our partners here to see how we can heal but also come up with some plans and see how we can better serve our community so that we can stop this hate this hate that.

Somehow has has taken a hold over our communities so I pray for those families and I know that this community is resilient it has been it's gone through a lot already but they remain fierce and they are our community they are our Familia thank you with that uh congresswoman Judy Chu hello I'm congressmember Judy Chu and I.

Represent this District the 28th congressional district my thoughts and condolences go to the victims of this horrific crime I can only imagine the terror pain and anxiety that they feel and how devastated the families of those who were killed must feel right now um and I can't even imagine that such a.

Thing would happen in this community my thanks go to the First Responders who came so quickly the paramedics and fire department who were able to take care of the injured the sheriff's uh Sheriff Luna as well as Monterey Park police chief whis and I appreciate the FBI coming immediately President Biden has been apprised of this horrific shooting.

And I hope that we can make a determination as to whether this was a hate crime you know this could have been so much worse only hours earlier all of us were toge ther only one block away at the Lunar New Year Festival all of us standing right here were there and there were thousands there.

Um it is horrible that such a thing could occur at a time of celebration for so many in the aapi community and in the Asian Community worldwide this is a time to be with family to celebrate and yet this tor uh a hole through all of our hearts but let me say I've lived in this city.

For 37 years I was on the city council and I was its mayor and I know how strong Monterey Park is Monterey Park is resilient and what I know about the people here is that we will get through this together good morning I'm Don alway the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office and on behalf of the entire FBI.

Our hearts go out to the victims and their families those that are not going to have their loved ones come home to greet them the FBI is committed to providing all the resources at our disposal to assist the sheriff's department and the Monterey Park Police Department and we won't stop until everything every.

Lead is exhausted and justice prevails thank you that's correct everything's on the table we don't know if this is specifically a hate crime defined by law but who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people the description we have now is of a male.

Asian does that matter I don't know I can tell you that everything's on the table our detectives are looking at every possibility with our partners age range somewhere between the age of 30 and 50. there is a wide range and those are things that our detectives as we're sitting here now for the last several.

Hours and they we have several homicide teams working here it's amazing when you can pick up the phone and I have other agencies coming what can we do to help we want this guy off the street so we're working very hard and we're hoping actually we will should be putting out a better description here in the next several hours team.

The actual scene I have not I've been at the crime scene but not the actual shooting scene an intentional direction that the shooter was aimed at or does it look like it was random across the board those are questions that we will be able to answer just not at this time ammunition and weapons.

That and can you please also describe what other incidents you are trying to investigate as far as their possible possible for this including yes um so let me start off with the last question regarding the city of Alhambra we are working uh diligently with the Alhambra Police Department.

We believe uh that there's an incident that may be related or not quite there yet but it's it's definitely on our radar screen uh where a a male Asian suspect um walked into a dance hall and he walked in there with a firearm and uh some individuals uh wrestled the firearm away from them.

And uh the that individual took off um now some witnesses in that area are describing a white cargo van we don't know though at this time if it is connected that white man should be considered a man of interest at this point uh again detectives looking at.

Multiple locations multiple Clues and I know how hard they're working in regards uh to the firearm obviously there were multiple rounds fired at the first location where we have all the victims and survivors we don't know how many rounds were fired different weapons have been described uh.

In regards to the specific weapon we don't believe it was an assault rifle at this time but again that's part of the investigation that we're looking at just uh just to make sure and I don't want to put out bad information have been solid leaves right now which are possibly connecting you to this gunman.

Right now I know you cannot give us details of them but you could just give you hope I always have hope and we have amazing uh detectives out here the resources that they have uh are utilizing out here there are multiple leads that we are following uh but please keep in mind our priority.

Here is obviously we get to the victims we get to the survivors uh we're gonna wrap our arms around the families what the next top priority is to arrest the person who did this uh charge them and get them prosecuted in the full extent of the law no matter what the intent motive or anything was new anyone inside that family that's.

Always a possibility again very early on in this investigation that's a possibility when you're a good detective you don't take anything off the table everything's a possibility and that could be one of them we are still in the process of interviewing dozens of witnesses and I'm not going to get into detail yet about.

What they said um look at how many cameras are in front of me suspect could be watching right now we do not at this time it absolutely could be we don't know yet um in regards to the 10 deceased victims my understanding.

We have five females and five males in regards to their specific ages we have not been able to identify any of them yet we will do that with our partners at the coroner's office when the time comes online I want to see it happen within 20 to 30 minutes of the first incident that we're.

Here discussing it happened after the Monterey Park Incident I don't have that information but there were there were dozens of people in there uh we don't believe that's necessary at this time but we will consistently evaluate that and if we believe uh that.

There's an absolute danger to the public we're going to take every precaution necessary we have a lot of resources out all over the place and um I don't think we're there yet but it's always an option in the toolbox know of it we don't have that specific information.

Yet because we have not identified them yet but the assumption is that probably yes but no music uh I don't have that specific information but we'll put that out later our teams are doing a lot of things right now that's one of many Sheriff can.

You talk about the time frame here when the call came in how long it took for officers to get to the scene when they went in and how much time did this guy have to exit Chief Weiss if you want to talk about the initial response to the scene thank you.

So we received 9-1-1 calls starting at 10 22 in the evening the incident as you all know is very close to the police station we were just wrapping up the final shutdown of the Lunar New Year event I had dozens of officers here throughout the day in the evening at the Lunar New Year event so our response to.

The scene was within minutes I don't have the exact time the initial officers that responded saw dozens of people exiting some were injured some weren't and we handled them as they came out began to triage that and my officers put together a react team and went inside to see if the suspect was still in sight uh they were.

Probably entering that business within a minute or two of responding and that's how we've been trained and that's how we respond to situations like this and I want to address the shelter in place we have a very tight Community here they share information with us and our partnership with our community is very very strong.

We've put out information to them about their safety and we welcome their questions to us I have dozens of officers here on the street today not just from my agency from agencies all over both local County state and federal this is a safe Community right now but we're going to continue to be vigilant.

Until we take the suspect into custody wherever they are that's all part of the investigation everything's on the table uh and yeah the more people you talk to the more information we get and our detectives are amazing and we'll we'll uh we'll get there uh so if we're looking at the Alhambra.

Incident uh approximately 10 22. and from the information preliminarily that we have now we're talking about seven between 17 minutes to 20 minutes later the Alhambra incident occurs yes sir Monterey Park unfortunately occurred first apart from the Alhambra and Monterey Park Incident.

And I don't have information about that at this time maybe that's just some new detail that's coming up whether it's out there we'll clarify that um I don't have to the the business is the microphone please well yeah I can we pause on that on the name of the business just out of respect for.

The business owners and the victims and survivors and then we'll work on you as soon as we can get that out and I heard the question over here to my right about uh caliber or if the rounds that's still we're still looking at that and I would prefer not to put the caliber out at this second just because.

It's going to it may hinder what we're trying to do and again remember our priority is we got to get this guy in custody and that's exactly what we plan to do not in detail at this time other than what I described earlier that uh this suspect walked in armed and he was disarmed by a couple of individuals so.

That's that's Chinese New Year events in this area yes yes and if that changes for any reason we will immediately notify uh our community through all of you at this point can you say anything about the weapon that was found was that a long a rifle was that an AR but what was that it was not an assault.

Rifle thank you events yesterday there were thousands of people I wonder if there's any safety measures in place before that happened and you know like the screening of the weapon what were we doing are you speaking about the Lunar New Year event yes were you were you there.

Yesterday yes so thousands of people and I had dozens of officers present I had officers walking around and playing clothes I had officers in uniform I had tactical officers walking around with long guns I had drones overhead I had the perimeter lockdown with barriers we did not screen people for weapons there was probably over a.

Hundred thousand people present so it's impossible to screen everybody for weapons yesterday was a safe event primarily because of the diligence of my officers that were present there I can't speak about the event where the crime occurred it's a separate incident it has no relation to the Chinese New Year event.

Earlier in the day thank you do our next update hours hopefully hopefully yes same location thank you very much

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