Those killed by a gunman who opened fire at a Los Angeles-area dance hall are being remembered by friends and family for the zest for life that brought them out that night to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Those killed by a gunman who opened fire at a Los Angeles-area dance hall are being remembered by friends and family for the zest for life that brought them out that night to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Eleven people were killed when a gunman opened fire on Saturday night at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, a dance hall in Monterey Park that is popular with older Asian Americans.
“It’s always happy, people just come and have fun, they just love dancing,” Peter Phung, a singer who has performed there and frequently stopped by to sing karaoke as well, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Following the attack, the gunman went to another nearby ballroom but was disarmed before anyone was shot. He fled — and on Sunday shot and killed himself.
As the week went on, a makeshift memorial with flowers and photos grew in front of the Star Ballroom. And as of Thursday, a GoFundMe organized by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California was nearing $1 million for the families of the victims.
Here are profiles of the 11 people killed:
DIANA TOM
Diana Tom, 70, was a “hard-working mother, wife and grandmother who loved to dance,” her family said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
Her family said that she went to the ballroom to celebrate the Lunar New Year by dancing with her friends.
“To those who knew her, she was someone who always went out of her way to give to others,” her family said.
Phung, the singer, remembered Tom as “very friendly, outgoing,” and said that in addition to her passion for dance, she would also frequently perform karaoke at the venue.
Tom’s family said that after she was wounded at the Star Ballroom, she was hospitalized in critical condition. She died Sunday.
XIUJUAN YU
Xiujuan Yu, 57, was a married mother of three who “worked tirelessly” to provide for her family, her niece Kathleen Fong wrote in a fundraising campaign to cover funeral costs.
Yu immigrated about a decade ago from China to the U.S., where she and her family, Fong wrote, «have done their best to make a life for themselves” by “working odd jobs and taking on labor-intensive occupations to make ends meet.”
Fong wrote on GoFundMe that Yu and her husband also were financially supporting their twins’ college educations at California universities, where they are studying sports medicine and kinesiology.
Now, Fong wrote, her aunt “will never be able to witness what she dreamed of for all these years.”
Yu, who celebrated her birthday in December, was at the ballroom on the night of the shooting to celebrate the Lunar New Year with friends, but never returned home.
After “days of uncertainty, anxiety, and waiting in worry,” Fong said, Yu was identified as one of the 11 victims.
“Personally, this still doesn’t feel real,” Yu’s niece wrote. “It happened all too quickly.”
Fong did not immediately respond to interview requests from The Associated Press.
MING WEI MA
Ming Wei Ma, 72, was the manager of the Star Ballroom and a talented dancer himself.
