Outside Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, life moves on. The traffic buzzes up and down nearby Garvey and Garfield avenues. Restaurants and surrounding businesses churn out delicacies for eager customers. A year after its darkest day, there are not many outward signs of what happened on Jan. 21, 2023.
But in a year like no other, Monterey Park has pushed forward in an ongoing recovery from a gunman’s rampage. The tragedy left this city faced with a long journey to some measure of healing and normalcy, even as such shootings continued throughout the year across the country.
After the mass shooting, 2023 in Monterey Park became a year of harnessing mental health resources, finding ways to maintain what had been a vibrant business community, seeking ways to discourage gun violence. For the victims’ families and those who survived, it’s been a delicate and often difficult balance between the reminders, unnerving remembrance and efforts to move forward.
- To read more Monterey Park coverage, visit here
In a year that started with the smiles of residents and leaders on a stage celebrating the Lunar New Year, a gunman’s rampage inside a beloved gathering place would jolt the lives of an entire community.
The Monterey Park mass shooting at Star Ballroom Dance Studio was the 33rd mass shooting of the year by Jan. 21, 2023. By the time the year ended there would be hundreds more.
Here’s a glimpse of that year, a timeline that chronicles a year of mourning and indignation, healing and heroism, leadership, remembrance and re-birth.
Jan. 21, 2023: City officials, residents, leaders begin the day celebrating the Lunar New Year, setting the stage for a local celebration that draws many to the area to celebrate the city’s culture, including its food.
Honored to join @CityofMPK for their Lunar New Year Celebration! 🧧
Monterey Park holds significance as having one of the largest percentages of AAPI residents in the U.S. As Supervisor for the…
Read the full article here
