Monterey Park shooting survivor's daughter says the gunman opened fire 'indiscriminately' inside the dance hall and killed partygoers within 7 seconds
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- The gunman behind the Monterey Park massacre opened fire "indiscriminately," a survivor's daughter said.
- The attacker fatally shot 11 people within seven seconds before leaving, said Mae Ikigai.
- "My mom lost 4 of her friends and a huge part of her life," Ikigai said in a Facebook post.
The gunman behind the Monterey Park, California, massacre opened fire "indiscriminately" as revelers danced inside a popular ballroom studio, fatally shooting 11 people within seven seconds before leaving, according to the daughter of a survivor.
Mae Ikigai wrote in a lengthy Facebook post after the Saturday night attack that her mother was among the nine people wounded during carnage at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio during Lunar New Year celebrations.
"She told us that she was five tables away from where the gunman was standing," Ikigai wrote as she recounted what her mother told her by phone from her hospital bed in the aftermath of the shooting.
The daughter continued, "She was dancing with her friends and dance instructor when she heard a noise that sounded like fireworks."
That's when Ikigai said her mother "turned around and saw a man holding a long gun firing indiscriminately."
"She quickly got down on the ground and felt her left shoulder and waist grazed by one of the bullets," Ikigai recalled. "The shooting lasted about 6-7 seconds and then the gunman left."
Ikigai said that her mother lost four friends in the massacre.
"My mom recalled that one of her closest friend[s] was at the first table right next to where the gunman was standing so she quickly got up and went to find her friend," Ikigai said.
The daughter added, "When my mom finally found her, she shook her friend and said, 'wake up wake up the gunman's gone.'"
When the pal "did not respond" her mother "shook her even harder and kept telling her to wake up," according to Ikigai.
"Suddenly she saw a lot of blood coming out from her friend's mouth. At that moment she realized her friend was gone," Ikigai said. "The gunman had shot her friend in the brain."
The mother's dance instructor was also shot in his ankle, Ikigai noted.
Ikigai's mother has been an active member of the dance hall and the nearby Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in Alhambra, where the gunman attempted a second attack, for nearly two decades, visiting the studios several times a week, the daughter said.
"If there is one thing my mom loved most it was dancing," Ikigai said, adding, "It was such an important part of her life and a part that gave her the most joy."
But her mother said she "will not be returning to the dance community and will focus this time on her healing and family," according to Ikigai.
"My mom lost 4 of her friends and a huge part of her life [Saturday] night," the daughter said.
Ikigai did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Tuesday.
Authorities found the 72-year-old gunman dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday.
Police have not yet released a motive for the massacre.