Nine killed in mass shooting in Los Angeles area, police say
Nine people were killed in a mass shooting in the city of Monterey Park, California, late on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, Reuters reported.
“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to assist Monterey Park Police Department with a shooting death investigation. There are nine deceased,” the department said in a brief statement.
“There is no additional information available at this time.”
The department said the suspect was male, but it was not clear if he was still at large.
The shooting took place after 10 p.m. (0600 GMT on Sunday) around the location of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held in Monterey Park, U.S. media reported.
Footage posted on social media showed injured people on stretchers being taken to ambulances by emergency staff. Around the scene of the shooting – reported to have been at a dance club – police guarded cordoned-off streets, the video showed.
“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a tweet, according to Reuters.
Tens of thousands of people had attended the festival earlier in the day.
The Los Angeles Times quoted the owner of a nearby restaurant as saying that people who sought shelter in his property told him there was a man with a machine gun in the area.
Seung Won Choi told the newspaper that he believed the shooting took place at a dance club.
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles county, around 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Los Angeles, Reuters reported.
China reports almost 13,000 new COVID-related deaths for January 13-19
Two Nepali youths abducted in India found dead
Two youths of Janakpurdham, Nepal, who were abducted in India two weeks ago, were found dead. The deceased have been identified as Rohit Sah (21) and Bishnu Sah (22) of Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City-8. They had been out of contact for the past 13 days. They are from the same family. Rohit has left home with Bishnu saying that they would visit a relative’s house at Bela Parihar in Sitamadi district of India. Both of them were abducted from the same place. Police called the relatives of the youths on Sunday to identify the bodies. The bodies have been kept at the Bela Parihar-based police office of India. Family members of the youths, who went out of contact after reaching the relative’s house, have been getting calls for ransom from kidnappers for the past few days. The abductors, who had demanded Rs 5 million in the beginning, had asked Rs 2 million later. They had also recorded the voice of Bishnu and sent it to the family. The kidnappers had called the family members of the youths to Malangwa border of Sarlahi with the ransom money.
Sonam Lhosar being celebrated across the country
People from the Tamang community are celebrating Sonam Lhosar with fanfare by extending greetings to one another and feasting on traditional cuisines today. Sonam Lhosar is being celebrated on the first day of the new moon in the month of Magh in the lunar calendar. According to the Manju Shree calendar, Tamangs divide their year into 12 cycles, each is given a special name, before the name of animals. The government has announced a public holiday today to celebrate the festival. The Tamang Community is the fifth largest community in term of population in Nepal, comprising 5.64 percent of the total population, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
