Jim Goodman and his dance partner Hattie Pong were dancing up a storm Sunday night. Never mind, for the moment, the 9-mm bullet still lodged in Goodman’s back, too close to a kidney to remove. Never mind the emotional and physical trauma that Pong suffered after that day a year ago.
That’s when Goodman, a retired San Gabriel cop, stepped in to protect others, including Pong, from the bullets.
And yet, one year later, there they were at an Alhambra restaurant on Sunday night, with dozens of survivors of the Monterey Park mass shooting on Jan. 21, 2023. Smiling. Dancing. Remembering their lost friends. Perhaps a little bit of healing with every twirl. With every beat. With every step.
They are among the many survivors of the shooting who gathered Sunday at World Seafood Restaurant evening to celebrate their “rebirth” on the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
It was the culmination of a day of remembering 11 of their friends who died in the shooting, a day that included a candlelight vigil at Monterey Park City Hall. But even amid the vigil’s solemnity and the lingering psychological trauma of what happened, many survivors embrace ballroom dance as a healing force.
That was clear on Sunday night.
“When the shooting happened, I was 10 feet away from the shooter, I’m one of the lucky men,” said survivor Lloyd Gock, who organized the event with Eric Chen, a pastor from San Gabriel.
After the tragedy, Gock formed a group of around 30 to 40 survivors who “are as traumatized” as he was. Throughout last year, the group met in regular meetings to support one another and to navigate the aftermath, he said.
“At the beginning, I said to myself, if we make it through the year, we are all going to celebrate together,” Gock said. “So tonight, I’m seeing a lot of people out here that were there that night, and to see them dancing here again, that’s the message, the positive message: Nothing can kill our spirit for dancing.”
On that night a year ago, the gunman, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, walked into Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue and opened fire. It sent shockwaves through the predominantly Asian community in the San Gabriel Valley, transforming what should have been a festive Lunar New Year Eve celebration into heartbreak.
Yet on Sunday, in a dining hall adorned with red and gold Lunar New Year couplets, laughter mingled with the clinking of glasses as attendees toasted to their new beginnings. Amidst the lively music and the hum of animated conversations, friends hugged and cheered each other.
Jim Goodman sat next to Pong, his dance partner of six years. They shared some laughs before hitting the dance floor together.
Goodman said his foot will start to ache underneath his heel if he dances for a couple of hours. On top of that, he still has the bullet lodged in his back. His doctors had left it in because it’s too deep to extract without adding stress to his kidney, he said.
As the gunman started firing, Goodman instinctively pulled Pong down and shielded her from the spray of gunshots piercing a line dance. As a result, he sustained serious injuries in his foot and shoulder.
For more than six years, Goodman and Pong had been grooving on the dance floor at Star Ballroom Dance Studio. They often stopped by Saturday nights for their dance sessions, Goodman said.
“In the beginning, I really didn’t know how to dance that well,” he said, pointing toward Pong. “She coached me for six years.”
“I am designed for him, because nobody can teach him,” Pong chimed in.
“Even though I had a lot of instruction, I still dance my own way,” Goodman smiled.
For Jenny Wong, another survivor of the shooting, Sunday’s banquet held special significance. She is celebrating both her 67th birthday and the embrace of a new chapter in her life, Wong said.
To survivors like her, the event was a beacon of hope, a reminder that warmth and compassion persist in society, Wong said. She said she hopes those struggling with mental health issues can get help.
“I hope there is no more tragedy like the Monterey Park shooting,” Wong said. “I hope everyone is safe.”
Line dancers, led by Cindy Lao, kicked Sunday night’s festivities into high gear. Swaying to “The Small Droplets of Rain in March”, the very song they danced to during the shooting at Star Ballroom Dance Studio. The dancers said they hoped to use their performance as a symbol of their bravery against adversity.
Lao said she came to the banquet with a heavy heart because Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting, however, “I hope everyone lives happily, because we still have to face the future,” she said.
As the evening went on, the survivors were joined by officials such as Rep Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, Assemblymember Mike Fong, D-Alhambra, Alhambra City Councilmember Sasha Renée Pérez and Monterey Park City Treasurer Amy Lee.
To see them dancing here again, that’s the message, the positive message: Nothing can kill our spirit for dancing.” — Lloyd Gock
A few family members of the deceased also attended, including Kristenne Reidy, daughter of victim Valentino Marcos Alvero, and Fonda Quan, niece of victim My My Nhan. Brandon Tsay was there, the man who thwarted what would’ve been a second massacre by the gunman in Alhambra.
Chu said it’s great to see the survivors dancing again. “I am so glad because I can see healing right in front of me,” she said.
Chen said the event is a way to remember those who have passed, but also to celebrate the new lives of the survivors, who have come together as “an extended family” in their healing journey.
“Even though this is a tragedy that affected our community, it can be something that can bring us all together as a community,” Chen said. “And that whatever the objective the shooter was, that we’re not going to let them prevail.”
He said he has raised around $10,000 from the fundraiser, which was his target.
Chen said proceeds will subsidize the dinner expenses for survivors and victims’ families, along with the DJ and entertainment costs for the banquet. Any surplus will be directed towards future activities for the SGV Hope Peer Support Group to aid their ongoing healing journey.
