US has so far witnessed 33 deadly mass shooting in 2023; over 2,500 killed in gun violence

The Lunar New Year shooting in Monterey Park, California in the United States of America on Saturday night was the deadliest shooting in the country since a gunman killed 21 individuals in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. The California shooting left ten dead and ten others injured. It was the 33rd mass shooting of 2023, according to The Gun Violence Archive.

The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization, defines a mass shooting as one that involves four or more people killed or injured, not including the shooter. The Monterey Park shooting is also the fifth mass murder shooting of the year in the US. Thus far in 2023, the Gun Violence Archive has recorded more than 2,500 deaths as a result of gun violence. In 2022, there were 647 mass shootings, 28 of which were mass murders.

The Saturday night shooting was also the the first of four mass shootings in a 12-hour period that day. Apart from the California massacare, 10 individuals were injured in Baton Rouge and 12 were injured in Shreveport, both in Louisiana while four were injured in Tunica Resorts in Mississippi state in the US.

Monterey Park gunman kills self

The hunt for a gunman who killed 10 people at a ballroom dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations ended Sunday when authorities found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the van he used to flee after people thwarted his attempt at a second shooting.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran and said no other suspects were at large. Speaking at an evening news conference, he added that the motive remained unclear for the attack, which wounded 10 more.

Luna did not have the exact ages of the victims but said they all appeared to be over 50. Seven of the wounded people remained in the hospital, he said.

The sheriff added that the suspect was carrying what he described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second handgun was discovered in the van where Tran was found dead.