The 26-year-old California man who took down the suspected Monterey Park gunman Saturday night said “something came over” him, prompting him to spring into action.
At least 10 people were fatally shot and another 10 hospitalized Saturday night in a mass shooting at Monterey Park following a Chinese Lunar New Year dance festival. The shooting happened around 10:22 p.m., at a ballroom dance studio. The suspected killer, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, then drove to another dance location, likely to carry out another shooting.
Brandon Tsay, who runs the second dance hall with his family, told ABC News that he was at the celebration when he heard a door shut behind him and turned to see an Asian man holding a gun.
“My first thought was I was going to die here,” Tsay told the outlet. (RELATED: REPORT: At Least 10 Injured As Gunfire Erupts While Rapper Records Music Video)
Tsay said he knew he had to disarm Can Tran or else more people would be killed.
EXCLUSIVE: “I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him, disarm him, or else everyone else would have died.”
Brandon Tsay, who helped disarm the gunman who allegedly shot 20 people, 10 fatally, during Lunar New Year celebration in CA, speaks out. https://t.co/O3eNuELr9O pic.twitter.com/OXTCXgml1u
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 23, 2023
“I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him. I needed to take this weapon, disarm him, or else everybody would have died,” he said.
Tsay said he mustered up the courage to lunge at Can Tran, initiating a struggle that ended with Tsay wrenching the gun away from the alleged killer. Tsay said he then threatened the shooter and told him to leave, sending Can Tran running off to his van.
“Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the ability to have adversity of fear,” Tsay continued. “In crises like this, the people need courage. Especially the victims, their friends, their families … I hope they could find the courage and the strength to persevere.”
Can Tran fatally shot himself inside a van on Sunday as officers closed in.