A video of a man disarming the Monterey Park shooter shows it wrestling with the gun and potentially avoiding more carnage in a second ballroom minutes after the gunman killed 11 people and wounded at least nine more at the first site.
Brandon Tsay, 26, has been hailed a hero for disarming the Monterey Park shooter at a dance hall in Alhambra, California.
Heartbreaking video obtained exclusively by NBC News captured the men fighting in what appears to be an empty ballroom foyer.
A gunman, dressed in dark clothing and a hat, walks out of the frame and about 30 seconds later 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 man.
The weapon has been described as a “semi-automatic assault pistol”.
The man then hits Tsay over the head while Tsay is holding the gun. The men continue to fight before Tsay pushes the man away. The man continues to search for the gun before giving up and leaving the room.
Tsay then points at the man and briefly walks out of camera view before he returns, gun in his 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, as if my life ended here, right then and there,” Tsay told NBC News’ Lester Holt.
“But something amazing happened, a miracle actually. He started trying to ready his gun so he 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 motive for the mass shooting Saturday night is unclear. Law enforcement officials said Monday that 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.
tsay said “Good Morning America” by ABC News early Monday that most patrons had left when the shooter arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, about 2 miles from Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where he carried out his deadly attack about 20 minutes earlier, the authorities said. authorities.
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 News 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 News. “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 man before fleeing, he told ABC News: “Finally, at one point, I was able to take the gun from him, push him to the side, create something. away, 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” because he was 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.
