26-year-old Brandon Tsay has been lauded as a hero after managing to disarm the California suspect accused of killing 10 and injuring more than 11 people during Saturday’s shooting in Monterey Park. As previously reported, a shooting occurred at around 10:20 PM at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio while celebrations for Lunar New Year were underway.
The gunman, Huu Can Tran, who later died of a self-inflicted wound, then headed to another studio, the Lai Lai Ballroom, near Alahambra, which is where Tsay confronted him. Tsay appeared on Good Morning America on Monday, mentioning how he had no idea the suspect was already believed to have killed a dozen people.
“It looked like he was looking for targets, people to harm,” Tsay said, recalling the moment he saw the gunman prepare his weapon. “When I got the courage, I lunged at him with both my hands. As seen in the surveillance footage taken at the studio, Tsay and the shooter are seen getting into a struggle in the lobby, making it evident that the suspect was determined to continue his massacre.
“We struggled into the lobby, trying to get this gun away from each other. He was hitting me across the face, bashing the back of my head. I thought he would run away, but he was just standing there contemplating whether to fight or to run.”
Tsay added, “I really thought I would have to shoot him and he came at me. This is when he turned around and walked out the door, jogged back to his van. I immediately called police with the gun still in my hand.”
It would be a later in the night when Tsay would come to learn that Tran was the man responsible for the shooting that occurred less than an hour after his scuffle with him. Police weren’t able to locate Tran’s van until Sunday in Torrance, which is roughly 30 miles from where the murders took place.
During the police standoff, Tran is reported to have parked inside a shopping center parking lot and died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
“I was shaking all night. I couldn’t believe what happened,” Tsay explained about the aftermath of his horrific night. “A lot of people have been telling me how much courage I had to confront a situation like this. But you know what courage is? Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to have adversity to fear when fearful events happen such as this.”