Dancing resumed in the studio that was targeted by the Monterey Park shooter

Lucy Wong was initially unsure if it was safe to return to the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the Alhambra.

This is where 72 year old gunman Huu Can Tran went after shooting dead 11 people at another dance studio near Monterey Park. Authorities believed he was planning another attack on the Alhambra, but a man in the studio snatched his gun from him and Tran fled.

But as more details emerged in the days since Saturday’s shooting, Wong and other Lai Lai customers decided it was important to return.

“I was more scared when I didn’t know the details,” said Wong. “I was scared it might be a hate crime against an Asian, Chinese, but I found out that it wasn’t – it was just one crazy person. So I feel fine; I’m not afraid anymore.”

For him, there is only one message that can be taken from this violence: “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated. Just do your normal thing. Go about life. It’s so unpredictable, life is.

Maksym Kapitachuk, who has worked as an instructor at the studio since 2010, calls Lai Lai his home.

“All my students are very close to me here. They are all my family,” he said Friday during the Social Tea Dance in the studio. “Seeing them back here is really good.”

Kapitachuk was not well when he learned about the mass shooting. He hoped that Lai Lai and his students would want to take time off after being so close to the tragedy. But a Facebook post late Sunday announced that classes would resume Monday.

“I think everyone will be scared to come back,” he said. “But no one wants to stop classes. This is a very strong community.”

On weekends, cha-cha, salsa and ballroom music replaces fear in the Lai Lai Ballroom.

Resilience in the face of tragedy has been a theme at Lai Lai since the Monterey Park massacre.

Wong has been going to Lai Lai for over 20 years, studying ballroom dancing, but he started his lessons years ago at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, switching to the Alhambra studio only when his instructor moved there.

He said he knew two people who were in the Star Ballroom the night of the shooting. One escaped safely, but Ming Wei Ma, 72, who ran the studio and whom Wong said he only knew socially, was killed.

Lai Lai student Coco Jiang also knew Ma, who she said she had danced with a few times and described as a “very, very friendly guy”.

He said he also recognized the shooter when he saw him on the news.

“A long time ago, I saw him here… a few years ago, before COVID-19, at a Sunday afternoon party,” Jiang said. “I saw him before but never spoke to him. I know that face.”

Wong said he still finds the attack baffling, given the shooter’s long absence from the dance community. “There are lots of rumors around [about the gunman’s motive]but it is unbelievable,” he said.

Her love for dance encouraged Wong to return to it, saying he would not let one random incident dictate his life.

“If you’re not a dance freak, I think you’ll freak out and stop coming for a while,” says the 73-year-old. “For someone like me, I really like dancing, so if I feel safe, I will keep dancing. I will not be intimidated by a single incident.”

The events of the weekend served as a reminder to Wong that life is fragile and unpredictable—so much so that the day after filming, he began planning trips to places he had always wanted to visit.

Elsewhere in Thursday’s dance hall, dance instructor Liya Kazbekova is holding private lessons with a teenage student. Kazbekova, who has been an instructor at the studio for four years, was in England taking part in a dance competition with a student when the shooting occurred on Saturday.

He said he froze in disbelief when he found out about the tragedy. As she digested the news, her thoughts immediately went to her boyfriend and dance partner, Roman Drobotov, who was scheduled to work Saturday afternoon at the Star Ballroom.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s there.’ And I started calling him, and I think those were the scariest 20 seconds of my life because I didn’t know where he was,” Kazbekova said.

Drobotov may have left before the shooting, said Kazbekova. But it turns out he canceled his day of work due to jet lag and lost his keys, he said.

Kazbekova is relieved to know her match, but she finds herself reeling again when she learns that her boss, Ma of the Star Ballroom, is among those in the studio that night.

“I don’t know if he was actually killed or just shot,” he said. “My body is shaking. This is surprising.

Kazbekova, 26, said she had to calm down as her young student was due to compete.

“I have to pretend that I’m fine, so it’s a tough day because my emotions are somewhere between the two,” he said. “I try to be with him and be well and keep smiling and supporting him. And at the same time, I was on the phone and trying to realize what was going on.”

Once her student competition was over, she said, she felt nauseous as she fully processed the news. He then reached out to all of his students from Lai Lai and the Star Ballroom. He gets word from all but one: Mymy Nhan, who was one of 11 people shot dead in Monterey Park.

“He used to come to Lai Lai for group classes every Friday. Super sweet woman, one of the kindest,” said Kazbekova.

“He always brought us some snacks like oranges, strawberries after class, and his husband, Michael, is also very smart and a nice person. He used to always give us funny comments in group classes. … It’s the little moments that stay with you forever, especially when this kind of thing happens.

Although Saturday’s event still weighs on the public, Kazbekova and some of her students say they are ready to get back to dancing.

“They are moving on with their lives, and it is not an act of ignorance or selfishness,” he said. “It’s really a great act to bring joy and your life back faster. And dancing really helps with that.”

A student in Lai Lai, who asked not to be named, told The Times he was in the Star Ballroom the night of the shooting. He said he was jive when he heard the first shots.

“A lot of people thought they were fake fireworks,” he said. When he realized it was gunshots, he said only one thought crossed his mind: “Oh my God. Do not die. Do not die.”

Detectives are still trying to determine Tran’s movements and motives. Law enforcement sources say he was once a regular at the local ballroom dancing scene and that jealousy may have been a motive. But LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a new conference Wednesday night that investigators had made no connection whatsoever between Tran and the people he killed.

It is also a mystery why he went to Lai Lai. But Luna said officials believed he was planning a second attack.

Brandon Tsay, whose family owns the Alhambra studio and works in the ticket office, was in the lobby looking into the studio when he heard the front door close Saturday night, followed by clanking sounds of metal, he said.

“That’s when I turned around and saw there was an Asian man holding a gun,” Tsay told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “My first thought was that I would die here. Here he is.”

Tsay said the man, whom she did not know, appeared to be looking around the room “for targets” and “people to hurt.”

The 26-year-old said he lunged at the man with both hands, sparking a struggle in the lobby for gun control. “I need to take this weapon, disarm it or everyone will die.”

Tsay later told reporters outside his home in San Marino that he did not consider himself a hero.

“You have my deepest condolences,” Tsay said, addressing the victims and their families. “Some of these people I know personally. They come to our studio. It’s a tight-knit community, and I hope they can recover from this tragic event.”

On Friday, Tsay visited Lai Lai, where he greeted employees and customers and collected any remaining gifts for him.

Jiang, who was continuing her Latin ballroom lessons on Wednesday, rushed to her side, hugged her tightly and thanked her for what she had done.

“I’m not afraid here,” Jiang told The Times. “If it is Star Dance, I will be scared. but here, [Tsay] protect us. I am proud of him.”