Police hunt perpetrator after mass shooting in Los Angeles

Ten people were killed in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, at a ballroom dance venue late on Saturday as residents in the mainly Asian American city were celebrating the Chinese lunar new year, police said.

The gunman fled the scene and police were still trying to find him, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said early on Sunday morning, about five hours after the attack.

There was no information yet about a motive for the attack, the department added.

Another 10 people were taken to local hospitals to be treated for injuries, and at least one was in critical condition.

The shooting happened after 10pm near a Chinese lunar new year celebration, US media reported. About two-thirds of residents of Monterey Park, a city about 11km from downtown Los Angeles, are Asian American.

Footage posted on social media showed injured people on stretchers being taken to ambulances by emergency staff. Police guarded cordoned-off streets around the scene of the shooting, the video showed.

“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighbouring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” Los Angeles city controller Kenneth Mejia wrote on Twitter.

Tens of thousands of people attended the festival earlier in the day.

Reuters