Healing a shattered community: Monterey Park shooting survivors return to dance
LOS ANGELES — Lloyd Gock was struggling with depression.
His clothing company wasn't doing well. Sometimes, he would think about ending his life. He went to a doctor and was prescribed medication. Nothing was working.
Then the 67-year-old Alhambra resident, who loves to dance salsa, merengue and bachata, started visiting Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park and Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra. Being around people his age helped him find community. Over time, his mental health improved.
"Dancing helped me to get out of my depression," he said. "I wanted to convey how dancing is so important to us as a community. As we get older, this is our only livelihood."
But on the night of Jan. 21, his solace turned into a nightmare. Gock was attending a Lunar New Year celebration at Star Ballroom when gunman Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire with a semiautomatic MAC-10 assault weapon. The partygoers, many of whom were doing a line dance near the entrance, initially thought the gunshots were celebratory fireworks.
Tran sprayed the room with bullets, reloaded, then started firing again. When he stopped, 10 people were dead and nine were injured. One victim later died at the hospital. The day after the shooting, Tran killed himself as police closed in on his van at a Torrance strip mall.
Six months later, the tragedy has left many survivors in the depths of depression and. Others have realized how much they need dancing in their lives.
