All 11 Monterey Park mass shooting victims have been ID’ed
All 11 victims of the horrific Monterey Park ballroom massacre have now been identified — as the final six names of those fatally shot Saturday night were released by the Los Angeles County coroner Tuesday.
Ten of the 11 people were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting inside Star Ballroom Dance Studio and the final victim died in the hospital Sunday, officials said.
Six women and five men between the ages of 57 and 76 were killed in the bloodbath.
The female victims are Xiujuan Yu, 57; Hongying Jian, 62; Lilan Li, 63; My My Nhan, 65; Muoi Dai Ung, 67; and Diana Man Ling Tom, 70. The male victims are Wen Tau Yu, 64; Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Yu Lun Kao, 72; Ming Wei Ma, 72; and Chia Ling Yau, 76.
The victims were gathered with others in the dance hall to welcome in the year of the rabbit at a Lunar New Year celebration when the 72-year-old gunman Huu Can Tran opened fire with a semi-automatic assault weapon.
Tran fired off 42 rounds inside the packed venue which was hosting a “Chinese New Year Countdown Dance Party.”
Ma was a beloved dance instructor at the ballroom affectionately called “Mr. Ma” as well as a father of two.
“He was the first to rush the shooter,” Ma’s friend, Eric Chen, told CBS News. “He was just caring.”
The instructor who was passionate about dance had “built a community that dearly loved and respected him for his kindness and liveliness,” according to a GoFundMe page.
Nhan’s family said she was one of the first of Tran’s victims as well.
“She spent so many years going to the dance studio in Monterey Park on weekends,” they wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. “It’s what she loved to do. But unfairly, Saturday was her last dance.”
“We are starting the Lunar New Year broken. We never imagined her life would end so suddenly,” said the statement signed by “The Nhan and Quan Family.”
“Mymy was 65 years old. If you knew her, you knew her warm smile and kindness was contagious. She was a loving aunt, sister, daughter, and friend. Mymy was our biggest cheerleader.”
Alvero was “a loving father, a dedicated son, and brother, a grandfather who loved his three granddaughters fiercely, an uncle who loved his nieces and nephews like his own,” his family said in a statement Monday.
They said he loved ballroom dancing and trading stories with others.
“We hope that he danced to his heart’s content until the very end and hope that he is now dancing in heaven,” the family added.
Tom was the final fatality in the tragedy. Her family said she died of her injuries on Sunday after she was listed in critical condition at the hospital.
Her loved ones said she was a “hard-working mother, wife, and grandmother who loved to dance.”
“To those who knew her, she was someone who always went out of her way to give to others,” the family said in a statement.
Yu moved to the US from China and is a wife and mother of three, including twins who are attending college in California, her niece said on a GoFundMe page.
“My aunt was in the middle of crafting [a] future with her husband and children, and now to have that journey suddenly interrupted is heartbreaking,” the relative Kathleen Fong wrote. “She will never be able to witness what she dreamed of for all these years.”
Kao, who also went by Andy, reportedly saved the life of his dancing partner by shielding her with his body, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the woman and her husband who have been close friends with him for 15 years.
Kao was known as “Mr. Nice” in the dancing community because “he would welcome newcomers with open arms and teach them the basics,” the couple Shally and Francois wrote on the fundraising page.
“Yu Kao was a free spirit, made people laugh, and loved to dance even if it was only him on the dance floor,” they said. “We were close friends and treated each other as family. He was always there to put a smile on our faces.”
Jian, who friends called Nancy, came to the US from Sichuan province and had a number of hobbies including dancing, singing, playing volleyball, gardening, and playing the piano, neighbors told the LA Times.
“She’s a very active person,” her next-door neighbor Serena Liu told the paper. “She used to say she can make friends with anyone if she wants. She’s a very nice, cute, kind person.”
In addition to the 11 slain, another nine victims were injured in the attack. The mass murderer turned the gun on himself and was confirmed dead the morning after the massacre.
Investigators have not yet revealed a motive in the mass shooting.
With Post wires
