CCTV has been released showing a member of the public disarming a gunman in California – just minutes after he fatally shot 11 people at a nearby Chinese New Year celebration.
Brandon Tsay, 26, has been hailed as a hero for disarming Huu Can Tran at the Lai Ballroom in Alhambra.
In the footage, Mr Tsay can be seen confronting the gunman in what appears to be an empty lobby in the dance hall.
An armed man, dressed in dark clothing and a hat, walks out of the picture and about 30 seconds later is seen struggling with Mr Tsay.
He manages to take the gun away from the attacker who then punches him in the head.
The men continue to struggle before Mr Tsay pushes Tran off him – leaving the assailant with no option but to escape.
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Hero who disarmed gunman says he ‘froze up’
‘This was the moment to disarm him’
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Speaking to NBC News, Mr Tsay said the attacker entered the venue and pointed the gun directly at him.
“There was a moment I actually froze up, because I was, I had the belief that I was gonna die, like my life was ending here, at that very moment.
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“But something amazing happened, a miracle actually.
“He started to try to prep his weapon so he could shoot everybody, but then it dawned on me that this was the moment to disarm him.
“I could do something here that could protect everybody and potentially save myself.
“I was thinking about my family and my friends – what their life would be like without me.”
Governor Gavin Newsom met Mr Tsay on Monday describing him as a “true hero”.
“This remarkable young man who without any hesitation – though with moments of fear – took it upon himself to save countless lives.
“Who knows how many lives he saved.”
Just 20 minutes earlier, 72-year-old Tran had entered the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park – killing 11 people and wounding nine others.
All but one of the victims were 60 or older, according to the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office.
A total of 42 rounds were fired in Monterey Park, Mr Luna said, adding that a large capacity magazine was found at the scene.
Eyewitness: A community beginning to grieve
The Star Dance Studio has become the focal point for Monterey Park as a community begins to grieve. At regular intervals people, young and old, come to lay flowers at the front door.
Since it opened 30 years ago it has been a place where people are taught all different styles of dance – including ballroom, waltz and samba – by highly qualified instructors, some of them champions in their discipline.
Most of the people who trained here are retirees in their 50s, 60s and 70s – including Jenny, who has been coming here for several years.
“I was going to be here on Saturday night but because it was New Year I had a dinner with my family,” she says. “I woke up on Sunday to hundreds of texts saying ‘Are you okay? Are you alive?'”
One of those killed in the shooting was a long-time instructor at the studio, a man known as Mr Ma.
“It was a very family-oriented place because Mr Ma treated us as family members and best friends,” says Jenny, who declined to give her surname. “We really like to come here to dance and to socialise to get to know people. It is good because it keeps us fit and healthy. I am trying not to think about what happened because I am so sad.”
Lauren Woods, a Tango instructor, saw Mr Ma for the final time on Saturday afternoon as many people celebrated the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park.
“I got to see Ma for the last time as he helped me find parking since the Monterey Park streets were packed in celebration to the Lunar New Year festivities,” she wrote on Facebook. “I will always remember Mr Ma and the way we communicated to each other.
“His English was not great, but he’d always say, ‘My teacher! My teacher!’ Always kiss my cheeks and say ‘Love You! Love you!’ He was so adorable to me and I could tell he was the heart of Star Ballroom.”
Image: A suspect is arrested after a mass shooting at two locations in the coastal northern California city of Half Moon Bay. Pic: ABC affiliate KGO via Reuters
Seven killed in Half Moon Bay shooting
Meanwhile, a suspect is in custody after seven people were killed in two related shootings at a mushroom farm and a trucking firm in a coastal community south of San Francisco.
Officials said four people were killed at the farm and three at the trucking business on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a city about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
The police have arrested 67-year-old Zhao Chunli in connection with the shooting.
It was not immediately clear how the locations were connected, though it is believed the suspect worked for one of the businesses.
Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.
“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
Image: Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.
The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.
His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.
Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Image: The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.
Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.
Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.
The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.
Image: Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.
“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.
President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.
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He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.
As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.
Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.
Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.
She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”
Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.
Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
A US federal judge has warned that he could hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.
US District Judge James E. Boasberg said he had found “probable cause” to hold the administration in criminal contempt and warned he could refer the matter for prosecution if it does not “purge” its contempt.
If the government doesn’t purge the contempt, charges could be brought forward by the Justice Department, NBC News reported.
And if the executive-led Justice Department refused to prosecute the matter, Judge Boasberg said he would appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.
Mr Boasberg said the administration could “purge contempt by returning those who were sent to El Salvador prison, in violation of his order, to the US.
This, he said, “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability”.
“The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the judge wrote.
Executive vs judicial
This marks a notable escalation in the ongoing tensions between the judicial and executive branches of the US government during Donald Trump’s second term.
Parts of the US president’s legislative programme have been halted by judges, as the administration strains against the restraints of the separation of powers.
Mr Trump previously called for Judge Boasberg to be impeached while the Justice Department claimed he overstepped his authority – both reflecting the administration’s attempts to overcome perceived obstacles to the implementation of its agenda.
Mr Trump’s administration has also argued it did not violate any orders.
It claimed the judge didn’t include a turnaround directive in his written order and said the planes had already left the US by the time the order came down.
‘Administrative error’
At the heart of the legal wrangling is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.
Washington acknowledged that Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”.
The US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return, upholding a court order by Judge Paula Xinis, but Trump officials have claimed that Mr Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang.
Image: Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA/AP
Mr Garcia’s lawyers have argued there is no evidence of this.
This all comes after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele visited the White House earlier this week.
During his time with Mr Trump, Mr Bukele said that he would not return Mr Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
Image: The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Along with Mr Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, whom it claims are gang members without presenting evidence and without a trial.
Democrat senator travels to El Salvador
Meanwhile, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday, saying he would seek a meeting with the country’s officials to secure Mr Garcia’s release.
“I just arrived in San Salvador a little while ago and look forward to meeting with the US embassy team to discuss Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release,” Mr Van Hollen said on social media.
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