Hero who disarmed mass shooter speaks out after gunman shot 20 people during Lunar New Year celebration
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Featured Image Credit: ABC / Newscom / Alamy Stock Photo
The man who disarmed a mass shooter who shot 20 people during a Lunar New Year celebration in Los Angeles has spoken out for the first time.
On Saturday evening (21 January), the gunman - who has now been named as deceased 72-year-old Huu Can Tran - set fire on a number of innocent people celebrating the Chinese New Year.
The gunman killed ten people and injured another ten at a Star Ballroom Dance Studio nightclub in the Los Angeles area.
Police later found the gunman dead in his van after authorities say he fled following people preventing a second shooting.
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The second area that Tran tried to target was Lai Lai Ballroom, which was also hosting an event for Chinese New Year that night.
But he was stopped in his tracks by 26-year-old Brandon Tsay, who's family runs the club, and is now being hailed as a hero.
CCTV footage shows the pair wrestling, as Tran attempts to get into the club and likely cause more destruction.
But before that, the night was winding down on the Chinese New Year celebrations when Tsay noticed the front door of the club click close behind him.
Speaking on Good Morning America, Tsay said: "That's when I turned around and saw that there was an Asian man holding a gun.
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"My first thought was I was going to die here, this is it. He started prepping the weapon and something came over me.
"I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him. I needed to take this weapon, disarm him or else everybody would have died."
He continued: "When I got the courage, I lunged at him with both my hands, grabbed the weapon and we had a struggle.
"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."
The hero said that he used his elbow to separate the gun from the Tran until he was able to pull the weapon away.
Tsay added that he pointed the gun at Tran and told him to leave the club.
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He said: "I thought he would run away, but he was just standing there contemplating whether to fight or to run. 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."
Tsay added that he was left with bruises all over his body from the incident and was 'shaking all night' but thankfully, he was okay and uninjured.
What a hero.
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