PINOY, 17 OTHERS DEAD IN 3 MASS KILLINGS IN 8 DAYS IN CALIFORNIA; Biden, Harris, Newsom, FilAms mourn, call for stricter gun control or gun ban
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR Gavin Newsom in a file photo with US President Joseph Biden Jr. during a recent visit in the state. The two leaders are pressing for stricter gun safety and reforms
By Claire Morales True, Managing Editor
SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES – Just two days after a gunman killed 11 people, including a Filipino American, while people were celebrating the Lunar New Year at a Monterey Park dance studio, seven more people were shot dead near San Francisco, as California suffered one of its bloodiest spates of mass gun violence in decades.
As California mourned, authorities said they were yet to determine the real motive for either of the rampages, which have baffled the community considering that the suspects were men of retirement age, much older than is typical for perpetrators of deadly mass shootings that have shocked many areas in the United States.
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The killings sent Californians chilling and in mourning as officials headed by US President Joseph Biden Jr., Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta called anew for more stricter gun safety laws or possible gun ban.
At the White House, President Biden said “Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in the latest tragic shooting in Half Moon Bay, California. For the second time in recent days, California communities are mourning the loss of loved ones in a senseless act of gun violence.”
“I have directed my administration to ensure local authorities and the broader Half Moon Bay community have the full support of the federal government in the wake of this heinous attack.
Biden added: “Yesterday, Senator Feinstein — alongside Senators Murphy, Blumenthal and others — reintroduced a federal Assault Weapons Ban and legislation that would raise the minimum purchase age for assault weapons to 21. Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action. I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe.
Harris, who hails from California, was to travel to the state to join some families of the those slain.
The Philippine Consulate General joined Filipino Americans and Filipinos as it mourned and also expressed “shock and great sadness over the mass shooting incident at Monterey Park late in the night of January 21 or during the celebration of the Lunar Year.
“Our prayers go out to the families of the victims and we mourn with them during this lunar new year festival, which is supposed to be a time of gathering and celebration,” the consulate said in a statement.
Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said he was heartbroken and angry because of the mass shooting in Monterey Park.
“I am heartbroken and angry that our community has experienced this devastating mass shooting. This shooting, again, points out that we must do more to protect everyone from gun violence. This Lunar New Year event was supposed to be a cultural celebration. This should have been a time for happiness and wishes for good health and prosperity. Instead, it has tragically become the opposite. At least 10 families will never see their loved ones again and numerous other families are praying that their relatives will recover from their wounds,” Bradford said.
“We still do not know much about this mass shooting including the motive of the person responsible. I want to see justice for the families and for the community. We cannot tolerate or become numb to the impact of gun violence in our society. I offer, not only, my prayers to the families, but my pledge as a California State Senator, to continue to support and fight for strong and common-sense gun legislation to end these tragedies,” he added.
Biden later called for Congress to act quickly to ban assault weapons, as California reeled from three deadly mass shootings in less than 48 hours.
A group of senators on January 23 reintroduced a federal Assault Weapons Ban and legislation that would raise the minimum purchase age for assault weapons to 21.
“We know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action. I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe,” Biden said in a statement.
Governor Newsom also renewed calls for federal gun safety reforms.
The governor made the trip to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, after the killing of seven farmworkers Monday.
Help is available for the victims of mass shootings, Newsom said.
“Our hearts are with the people in California,” President Biden said at a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders.
“They’ve been a rough, rough couple of days,” he added.
Biden noted that senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, had introduced an assault weapons ban, and he urged politicians to pass it.
Newsom also called for stronger gun safety laws, and took particular aim at large-capacity magazines — like the one the gunman at the dance studio had — and what he called “weapons of damn war”.
The latest gun attack hit Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, where a gunman opened fire on groups of farm workers at two locations about a mile apart, leaving seven people dead and one badly wounded, then fled.
Four people were found dead and a fifth injured from gunshot wounds at one location, and three others were found dead at another several miles away, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office said.
Investigators identified the Half Moon Bay gunman as Chunli Zhao, 67, who was taken into custody after he was found sitting in his vehicle, parked outside a sheriff’s station, where authorities said they believe he had come to turn himself in. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said a gun was found in the vehicle.
The shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, just east of downtown Los Angeles, resulted in the death of 11 people while nine others were wounded.
Authorities said the suspect, Huu Can Tran, 72, drove next to an adjacent town and barged into a second dance hall but was stopped by the club’s operator and wrestled his gun preventing another bloodbath.
Investigators said Tran, himself a longtime patron of the Star Ballroom, catering mainly to a older dance enthusiasts, fled again and vanished overnight.
He shot himself to death in his parked getaway vehicle, a cargo van, on Sunday morning, about 12 hours after his rampage, as police surrounded him in the town of Torrance, south of Los Angeles, authorities said. (Claire Morales True/PhilAmPress/cmtpr1962@yahoo.com.ph)
