Vice President Kamala Harris has made her first on-camera remarks about the mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California that left at least 10 people dead and 10 others injured.
On Saturday (January 21) night, the deadly shooting broke out at Star Ballroom Dance Studio amid a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, just outside of Los Angeles, CBS News reports. The suspected shooter, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, died by self-inflicted gun wound, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced over the weekend.
Harris addressed the "tragedy" that unfolded in her home state during her speech in Tallahassee, Florida on Sunday (January 22) for the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, per CNN.
“A time of a cultural celebration … and yet another community has been torn apart by senseless gun violence,” Harris said Sunday. “So Doug and I join the president and Dr. Biden, and I know everyone here, in mourning for those who were killed, as we pray for those who are injured, and as we grieve for those many people whose lives are forever changed."
"All of us in this room and in our country understand this violence must stop,” the vice president continued. “And President Biden and I and our administration will continue to provide full support to the local authorities as we learn more.”
President Joe Biden echoed Harris' sentiments in a tweet on Sunday, noting that he was monitoring the aftermath of the mass shooting “closely as it develops.”
“Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park,” Biden tweeted. “I’m monitoring this situation closely as it develops, and urge the community to follow guidance from local officials and law enforcement in the hours ahead.”
Earlier that day, the White House said Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall had been directed to “make sure that the FBI is providing full support to local authorities" amid investigations into the Monterey Park shooting that killed 10 people.
According to NBC News, investigators are still searching for a motive as of Monday (January 23).
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