For the seniors at New York’s Imperial Ballroom in Chinatown, dance has become a form of defiance and a way to honor the 11 killed in the mass shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio outside Los Angeles.
Dance Halls are a place for socialization and exercise, but in the wake of this weekend’s deadly shooting at a California ballroom, how difficult will it be for patrons to return to the place they love?
For the seniors at New York’s Imperial Ballroom in Chinatown, dance has become a form of defiance and a way to honor the 11 killed in the mass shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio outside Los Angeles.
Owner Irene Ng says she was nervous at first about opening after the shooting and was unsure of how many people would show up to dance, but ultimately, the studio ended up packed with dancers.
“I think we should continue to dance, because we can’t let evil win,” Ng tells Inside Edition.
Across the country, a makeshift memorial stands outside the Monterey Park dance studio, where 72-year-old Huu Can Tran opened fire Saturday. Eleven people were killed, all of whom were in their 50s, 60s and 70s, and nine were injured in what is one of the state’s deadliest mass shootings in modern history.
Tran, who was reportedly a regular at the studio, fled the scene. About 20 minutes later, an armed man arrived at another dance hall, where hero Brandon Tsay was able to wrestle a gun away from him.
Authorities set out on a manhunt across the area before Tran was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound by police who swarmed a white van in Torrance on Sunday morning.
Many are now asking why it took police five hours from the time of the shooting to warn the public that the shooter was still on the loose.
“The priority was to get this person into custody, so we were very strategic in the way we were putting out information,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. “Ultimately, it worked. We will go back and look at, as we always do, about what worked and specifically what didn’t work.”
But security consultant Brian Higgins tells Inside Edition that time is of the essence where public safety is concerned.
“I don’t know how you can be strategic by not letting the public know that there is a danger, there is a threat out there, who they have not apprehended, who was armed, and you can assume that this person is very dangerous,” he says.
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