Police are at the scene of a shooting in Southern California that left several dead and injured, the AFP reports, citing police sources heard by the US media.
There are few details for now and no confirmation from police in Monterey Park, about eight miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
According to the census, 65% of the city’s population is of Asian descent.
The LA Times reports that the incident occurred sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday (6 a.m. Sunday in Lisbon), alongside a Chinese celebration of the Lunar New Year.
The same newspaper, citing a police source, said there were “several” victims. A police source told the paper there were more than a dozen victims.
City News Service, a local news outlet, quoted officials as saying there had been deaths and injuries in the incident, without giving numbers.
This channel reported that the shooting took place about an hour after the end of the Lunar New Year Festival. “It’s an isolated incident,” Deputy Sheriff M. McClendon told the City News Service.
The LA Times spoke to Seung Won Choi, owner of a restaurant near the shooting scene, who said three people stormed into his establishment and asked him to lock the door.
The three said there was a man with a semi-automatic weapon who carried several ammunition and reloaded when they ran out, Choi told the newspaper.
The LA Times reported that tens of thousands of people gathered earlier in the day for the two-day festival, one of the largest in Southern California.
AFP journalists on the scene said there was a heavy police presence, with areas cordoned off and helicopters flying overhead.
Source: DN
