Washington: US President Joe Biden has ordered that flags in the United States be flown at half-staff until Thursday, in order to honor the victims of the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California.
“As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on January 21, 2023, in Monterey Park, California… I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds,” Biden said in a Sunday proclamation.
He added that flags shall also be flown at half-staff at all military facilities and naval vessels and at US embassies and other facilities abroad, until sunset, January 26.
Late on Saturday, January 21, a gunman opened fire at a local dance studio in the city of Monterey Park, located east of Los Angeles, killing 10 people and injuring 10 others. He then fled the scene. The incident occurred at the end of the first day of a two-day street festival to celebrate Lunar New Year. The City of Monterey Park cancelled the rest of the Chinese New Year celebrations following the mass shooting.
Biden expressed condolences to the families of the victims on Sunday, saying that the shooting deeply impacted the Asian American and Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) community.
A SWAT team breached a white van linked to the mass shooting in Monterey Park on Sunday and found a body inside, according to US media reports. NBC reported on Sunday, citing two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation, that the man found dead inside the white cargo van in the city of Torrance, California, was described as “possibly” being the suspect. According to US media reports, he may have shot himself.
