Ma, 72, who managed the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, was identified Tuesday as one of the 11 people killed when aat the Monterey Park dance hall. The victims, who ranged in age from 57 to 76, had gathered there to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Dance instructor Walter Calderon, who has taught classes at the dance hall, remembered Ma as a “very nice guy who was always smiling.” Calderon said that Ma, who helped him with events he held at the studio, was also a talented dancer. Calderon, a native of the Philippines, said in Asian communities, dance halls play an important role in the lives of seniors who are looking for companionship and “something to do.”
The massacre was the nation’s fifth mass killing this month, and it struck one of California’s largest celebrations of a holiday observed in many Asian cultures. Asian Americans around the U.S. have been the target of high-profile violence in recent years. Tran once frequented the dance halls he targeted and griped about the way he thought people treated him there, a man who identified himself as a longtime friend who lost touch with Tran years ago told The Associated Press. The former friend, who requested anonymity to speak about Tran because he wanted to avoid the media spotlight, said Tran was perpetually distrustful and paranoid and would regularly complain that people at the clubs didn’t like him.
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