Grieving loved ones began identifying victims who were slaughtered Saturday night at a Lunar New Year celebration inside a Los Angeles County dance hall, as hospital officials announced on Monday that an 11th person has died as a result of the massacre.
The family of 65-year-old Mymy Nhan said in a statement that she was the first person killed Saturday night at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park—a city flush with Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans.
Nhan had frequented the dance hall for years, her family said, adding that “Saturday was her last dance.”
“If you knew her, you knew her warm smile and kindness was contagious,” the statement read. “She was a loving aunt, sister, daughter and friend. Mymy was our biggest cheerleader.”
The studio’s owner, Ming Wei Ma, was also killed in the gunfire. Multiple instructors from the dance hall identified Ma as one of the victims in a series of Facebook posts, with one of his friends telling CBS News that he was gunned down while trying to stop the shooter.
“He was the first to rush the shooter,” Eric Chen told CBS. “He was just caring, and others first, people first kind of person.”
Nina Zhiting Yang, an instructor at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, posted Sunday that “Mr. Ma” had taken a chance on her when she was 19 or 20 to become an instructor—despite being new to Los Angeles with no experience instructing and not-perfect English.
Marek Klepadlo, another instructor, said Sunday night that he and Yang were not at the studio when shots rang out.
“There are many who were not so lucky last night,” Klepadlo posted. “It weighs very heavily on our heart and words cannot describe how we feel.”
Dariusz Michalski, also an instructor, posted a tribute to Ma himself.
“Your love, joy for people will never be forgotten,” Michalski wrote. “Your dance and singing passion will never disappear. We will never forget your shout in the studio...I love you my friend.”
Klepadlo, Yang and Michalski did not respond to multiple calls and messages from The Daily Beast.
Cops have been slow to release information on victims as they alert their families first, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday.
The name of a third victim, 63-year-old Lilan Li, was released by the coroner’s office Monday.
Despite not releasing names, deputies say all 10 of the victims killed at the scene—made up of five men and five women—were at least 50 years old. An 11th person died Monday from their injuries, but authorities didn’t immediately release their age or gender.
Huu Can Tran, 72, is suspected to be the man behind the grisly crime. A potential motive has not been released by cops, who say they found Tran dead in a van Sunday afternoon with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Monterey Park’s police chief, Scott Wiese, suggested Monday that Tran’s motive may never be fully revealed because he killed himself.
“We all want answers to questions we may never have answers to,” Wiese said. “That’s kind of the enigma of this...The why is a big part of this. The problem is, we may never know the why.”
CNN reported that Tran’s ex-wife, who was not named, said they’d first met decades ago at the same studio he allegedly shot-up on Saturday. She said her ex-husband, a Chinese immigrant, frequented the studio before their divorce in 2005. Back then, she said he was an “informal” dance teacher there who’d offer patrons free lessons.
The woman said Tran wasn’t violent but was “quick to anger”—especially if she put a foot wrong on the dance floor, which would cause him to “occasionally blow up.”
Los Angeles authorities have not said when they plan to release updated information about Tran or the other unidentified victims.
