On Saturday night, January 21, a gunman entered a dance studio in Monterey Park and shot and killed 11 people and injured nine others.
The ballroom on Garvey Avenue was only steps away from where the predominantly Chinese American suburb’s Lunar New Year Festival had attracted thousands of revelers just over an hour before. The suspected gunman entered a second dance studio in nearby Alhambra shortly after, where he was disarmed by an attendee; the 72-year-old Asian man was found dead of a self-inflicted gun shot the following day. There’s a lot we still don’t know about the incident, though a personal dispute has emerged as a possible motive—regardless, the mass shooting has devastated the community, both those directly impacted by it as well as the larger Asian American population in Los Angeles.
If, like much of the greater Los Angeles area right now, you’re still trying to process the events and figure out how you can help, we’ve included some resources below.
GoFundMe has set up a landing page of verified fund-raisers that support the victims and their families. Chief among them, the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund has emerged as the main destination for donations. Organized by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, the initiative counts Stop AAPI Hate, the Asian Pacific Community Fund, the Asian American Foundation, the AAPI Equity Alliance, Gold House, the Chinatown Service Center and Stand with Asian Americans among its fund-raising partners.
In addition, local nonprofit Classroom of Compassion is aiming for $5,500 to put toward public altars that will honor the victims of the shooting. Once erected, the on-site altars will welcome visitors to leave a small floral offering, note or drawing. In the meantime, a city-sanctioned memorial has been set up at Monterey Park City Hall (320 W Newmark Ave). At that same site, the city will host a vigil on Tuesday, January 24 at 5:30pm.
Though we haven’t spotted any quite yet, we also expect to see food-based fund-raisers to support victims funds and anti-AAPI hate initiatives. We’ll update this story if and when those are announced.
If you’re in need of support, a Survivors Resource Center has been established at Monterey Park’s Langley Senior Center (400 N Emerson Ave), which will provide in-person mental health resources (8am–6pm) through January 28. If you’re feeling distressed, L.A. County also operates a 24/7 help line at 800-854-7771, or you can call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.