A young coder credited with taking down a 72-year-old suspect in a mass shooting during a Lunar New Year celebration in California has described a “primal” battle with gunmen.
The man, identified by the New York Times as 26-year-old Brandon Tsay, was in the office of Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra on Saturday night watching dancers when he looked up to see the suspect pointing a gun at him.
Gunman is there to kill
“My heart broke, I knew I was going to die,” he told the newspaper.
“At that time, it was a primal instinct,” he said. “Something happened there. I don’t know what happened to me.
He lunged at him and grabbed the barrel of the gun, starting the fight for life.
Tsay, whose grandfather founded the ballroom, did not know that the suspect, identified by police as Huu Can Tran, was believed to have killed 10 people and wounded 10 others just minutes earlier at another dance hall in Monterey Park.
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He said he had never seen a gun in real life – but it was clear that the gunman was there not to rob the place but to kill.
“From his body language, his facial expressions, his eyes, he’s looking for someone,” Tsay told the Times.
Tsay and his family said security footage showed the pair struggling for about 90 seconds before they were able to wrestle the gun from the suspect.
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He immediately pointed back at her and shouted “Go, get out of here,” she told the newspaper.
The suspect fled. Hours later he died, shooting himself inside a white van in Torrance, a few miles south, on Sunday afternoon as police moved in to arrest him.
The motive for the Lunar New Year shooting is unknown
Five men and five women, all in their 50s or 60s, were killed by a gunman in Monterey Park on Friday night.
Police said the reason for the attack, which occurred as Asian communities around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year holiday, remained a mystery.
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He said he believed the gunman would carry out a similar massacre at the Alhambra, and credited those who saved him with saving their lives.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has said two men disarmed the suspect in the Alhambra – but Tsay and his family, who still run the ballroom, said the footage showed him grappled with the killer.
Tsay’s sister Brenda, who runs the business, said the footage showed the gunman’s fierce struggle for control of his weapon.
“He kept coming at her,” she told the Times. “They really want the pistol back.”
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