At least 10 people were killed in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, a majority-Asian community that’s home to the country’s first suburban Chinatown. A gunman opened fire at Star Ballroom Dance Studio during Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday, the deadliest shooting in the U.S. since a gunman attacked Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and one of the worst in recent Los Angeles history. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more mass shootings — four or more people shot — in 2023 than there have been days in the year.
Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday for many people with roots in China, Vietnam, and other East Asian countries. It’s a celebration of the birth of spring, and considered a time to reunite with family. “It’s always sad for a tragedy like this to happen, but it’s especially sad when it’s a time when people are supposed to be happy and looking forward to a bright future,” Yulan Chung, executive director of the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center in Irvine, told The Los Angeles Times.
Police say the suspect, a 72-year-old Asian man who had reportedly been a regular at the dance studio, was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday afternoon. Law enforcement officials haven’t identified a motive.
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When law enforcement investigates a shooting, the evidence left at the scene can make or break a case. But what if a few spent casings were all investigators needed to solve a crime? Enter microstamping, a process that imprints a unique identifier on bullet casings when they fire, theoretically allowing law enforcement to identify the firearm used in a shooting. Chip Brownlee breaks down the technology — and why it’s the subject of intense debate.
What to Know Today
Five Memphis Police officers involved in the traffic stop that preceded Tyre Nichols’s death were fired Friday. [Memphis Commercial Appeal]
Nine Philadelphia mayoral candidates, all Democrats, said at a gun violence prevention forum they’re not interested in decreasing funding for policing. [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Context: Philadelphia’s gun violence crisis, which has claimed record numbers of victims over the last two years, has supercharged the race for mayor.
The 988 crisis hotline has fielded a record number of calls since it switched from a 10-digit number to a three-digit number six months ago. [The New York Times]
Why did gun violence drop by one-third in West Baltimore last year? [The Baltimore Banner]
The police union in Austin, Texas, was behind the effort to get a misleading ballot initiative concerning oversight into the city’s next election. It’s not the only officers’ union resisting civilian monitoring of law enforcement conduct. [The Marshall Project]
Atlanta homicides increased for the third year in a row. A number of them involved young people. [The Atlanta Journal Constitution]
New Mexico prosecutors are holding Alec Baldwin responsible for the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust.” Actors are questioning the decision. [Los Angeles Times]
The Florida Supreme Court upheld a law that imposes fines on local officials who pass gun regulations that haven’t been enacted by the state Legislature. [Bloomberg Law]
Data Point
36 — the number of mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year. [Gun Violence Archive]
