A video of a man disarming the Monterey Park shooter shows it wrestling with the gun and potentially preventing more carnage at a second ballroom minutes after the suspect killed 11 people and injured at least nine more at the first site.
Brandon Tsay, 26, has been hailed a hero for disarming the Monterey Park shooter at a ballroom in Alhambra.
Heartbreaking footage obtained exclusively by NBC News captured the men fighting in what appears to be an empty foyer inside the ballroom.
A gunman, dressed in dark clothing and a hat, walks out of the picture, but about 30 seconds later he is seen wrestling with Tsay as the two fight over the gun. A shoving match ensues, and Tsay manages to wrest the gun from the suspect.
The weapon has since been described as a «semi-automatic assault pistol.»
The suspect then hits Tsay in the head while Tsay is holding the gun. The men continue to fight, before Tsay pushes the suspect away. The suspect continues to search for the weapon before giving up and leaving the room.
Tsay then points at the suspect, briefly walking out of camera view before returning, gun in her right hand and using a cell phone with the other.
The whole ordeal lasted about 4 minutes.
“There was a moment where I really froze because I had this belief that I was going to die, like my life ended right here, right then and there,” Tsay told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an interview to air Monday. night.
“But something amazing happened, a miracle actually. He started trying to get his gun ready so I could shoot everyone, but then I realized this was the time to disarm him, I could do something here that could protect everyone and potentially save myself.”
Tsay said the gunman, who has since been identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, walked in and appeared to be intent on continuing the violence.
«When he came in he didn’t say anything,» he said. “His face of him was very stoic. His expressions were mostly in his eyes: looking around trying to find people, trying to scan the area for other people.”
The exact motive for Saturday night’s mass shooting is unclear, but law enforcement officials said Monday it appeared to be personal.
Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said the evidence gathered so far appears to rule out terrorism or a hate crime in the attack.
tsay said ABC «Good Morning America“The Monday before most of the patrons had left when the shooter arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, about 2 miles from Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the shooter carried out his deadly attack about 20 minutes earlier. authorities said.
Tsay is a computer programmer, working in the ballroom a few nights a week as the third generation of her family to operate it. according to The New York Times.
The ballroom was hosting a «social dance party» for Lunar New Year when Tsay «heard the sound of the front door creaking shut and instantly followed by the sound of a metal object colliding as if they were rubbing together,» said. Good morning america».
Tsay said she did not recognize the shooter, describing him to ABC as «someone I’ve never seen before.»
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday that the weapon recovered at the Alhambra Ballroom was a «semi-automatic assault pistol» with an attached large-capacity extended magazine.
“We struggled to get to the lobby, trying to get this gun off of us,” Tsay told ABC. “He was hitting me in the face, hitting the back of my head. I was trying to use my elbows to separate the gun from him, creating some distance.»
Once Tsay finally gained control of the gun, he had to threaten to shoot the suspect before he fled, he told ABC: «Finally, at one point, I was able to take the gun from him, push him to the side, create some distance. , point the gun at him, intimidate him, yell at him and tell him: ‘Get out of here. I will shoot! Get away. Go!’ And at this point, I thought he would run away, but he was just standing there contemplating whether to fight or run. I really thought he would have to shoot him if he came at me.»
The shooter then turned and fled back to his white pickup truck, Tsay said, adding that he «immediately called the police» while still holding the gun.
The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday after a chase ended about 30 miles away. The motive for the attack on the ballroom is unknown, Luna told reporters Sunday night.
Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo told NBC News the shooter may have been targeting his ex-wife on Lunar New Year.