Of course, in situations like this there are many rumours when the news first breaks and the facts have not yet been established through credible sources. I was told the shooter was a Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Refugee sick and tired of ‘multicultural’ America (and could not stand the ‘noise’ of Chinese New Year – with the fire-crackers triggering his PTSD and making him thinking the ‘Russians are coming’), or that the shooter was a disgruntled ‘Asian’ or a ‘Muslim’ – and that he was ‘helped’ by local people to ‘escape’ arrest – as the Chinese people are ‘so unpopular’ in the US! I even received this email:
‘The Vietnamese man who killed ten Chinese people (and wounded ten others) – left a suicide note stating that he was protesting about the Chinese government insisting this is the ‘Year of Rabbit’ (and ruthlessly controlling the accompanying merchandise to Vietnam’s detriment) – when in fact it is obviously the ‘Year of the Cat’. What a world we live in.’
Absurd – yes – but like all good myths, it contains a kernel of truth. According to ‘Xinhua’, the name of the shooter is ‘Huu Can Tran’ – but what most news outlets are refusing to make clear is that this name means he is of the ‘Vietnamese’ ethnicity. As the political far-right thrive on this type of internecine violence, this tragic incident is already being termed a ‘Yellow on Yellow’ event! As can be seen, my ‘absurd’ email was nearer the truth than many would like to admit (although to ‘note’ has surfaced as of yet).
Huu Can Tran murdered five Chinese men and five Chinese women – whilst wounding ten others – in the ‘Star Ballroom Dance Studio’ situated in the Monterey Park area of East Los Angeles (in California). The shooting occurred at 10:22 pm (06:22 GMT) on Saturday evening during January 21, 2023. After fleeing this venue, the shooter then travelled to nearby ‘Alhambra’ – where he entered another Night Club – but was wrestled to the ground by his potential victims before yet again ‘fleeing’! He then entered a local hospital and requested treatment – but was made to wait so long at Accident and Emergency that he gave-up and left.
Driving in a ‘white’ transit van – Huu Can Tran – then travelled to Torrance, a city in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County (about 30 miles Southwest of Monterey Park). Following a three-hour stand-off with the Police – Huu Can Tran – then took his own life through a self-inflicted gun-shot wound. Huu Can Tran was 72 years old and armed with a ‘Cobray M11’ 9mm (Semi-Automatic) ‘Sub-Machine Gun’ – which included an extended magazine. This type of firearm is light and can be fired whilst held in a single hand (like a ‘pistol’) – and as it carries a 30-round magazine – it can fire quickly without the need for frequent magazine changes. In other words, Huu Can Tran carried a hand-weapon that possessed the firing capacity of an assault-rifle. This would suggest he intended to cause a very high casualty rate.
Chinese Language References:
https://www.163.com/dy/article/HROV6HBV053469LG.html
https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2023_01_22_677038.shtml
English Language Reference:
https://english.news.cn/20230123/b08058f191c94cdc9791378ed87d7a4e/c.html
THE SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 