Huu Can Tran, 72, killed ten people in a dance hall in the California town of Monterey Park shortly after the Chinese New Year festival and then stormed into another nearby dance hall with the intention of murdering more people, but a 26-year-old man managed to snatch the semi-automatic rifle he was carrying from him even though he had never physically seen a gun before.
Brandon Tsay has already been called a «hero» by the Californian press. «He was heartbroken. I knew I was going to die,» he told ‘The New York Times’ as he recalled how the assailant had pointed his gun at those present at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the town of Alhambra.
Tsay did not know that the attacker had just killed ten people in another ballroom just 20 minutes earlier and rushed at him until he managed to snatch the gun, so he probably avoided another massacre.
«It looked like he was looking for who to shoot, who to hurt,» Tsay told ABC. Then Huu Can Tran began to prepare to shoot and «something came over me,» Tsay said, and he knew he had to «disarm him or else everyone would die».
«I pounced on him with both hands as soon as I gathered the necessary courage,» took the gun from him and pointed it at him. «Get the hell out of here!» he shouted at him, and the man left the premises and got into a van. «I called the police immediately, with the gun still in my hand,» he has assured.
Huu Can Tran died hours later after shooting himself inside a van when he was surrounded by security forces, police said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
