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Associated Press

A close-knit Hmong community was in shock after gunmen burst into a California backyard gathering and shot 10 men, killing four.
“We are right now just trying to figure out what to do, what are the next steps. How do we heal, how do we know what’s going on,” said Bobby Bliatout, a community leader.
Sunday evening’s attack killed Xy Lee, a Hmong singer and musician whose videos on YouTube have been viewed millions of times.
Also killed were Phia Vang, 31; Kou Xiong, 38; and Kalaxang Thao, 40, all of Fresno, according to the coroner’s office. Three others remained hospitalised in serious condition, Community Regional Medical Centre said.
No motive or suspects were identified by police.
“Our community is in mourning, and we still do not know what’s going on, or who are the suspects,” said Pao Yang, CEO of the Fresno Centre, a Hmong community group.
The Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia. Many fled after fighting alongside the United States during the Vietnam war.

There are about 300,000 Hmong living in the US, according to the 2017 American Community Survey by the US Census.
California has the nation’s largest Hmong population and about 25,000 live in Fresno, comprising about 5 per cent of the city’s population of 525,000.
The gunmen targeted a house where about 16 men had gathered outside to watch football on television, police said.
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At least two men armed with semi-automatic handguns walked through a side gate and without a word began firing randomly into the crowd before fleeing in the darkness, Police Chief Andrew Hall said.
The shooters did not speak, and no one reported getting a good look at them. Witnesses saw only flashes when the pistols were fired, Hall said.
Police were investigating whether the shooting was connected to a recent “disturbance” involving some of the people at the party, Hall said. He did not describe the incident other than to say it occurred within the last week.
Women and children inside the house weren’t hit, Hall said.

The chief said at least 60 officers were investigating along with the FBI, Homeland Security and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“We’re coming for you,” the chief said of the attackers.
While police hadn’t found any gang connections to the victims, Hall also announced the establishment of an Asian gang task force because of concerns about the possibility of retaliation or more violence ahead of the Hmong New Year, which is celebrated the week after Christmas and draws thousands to Fresno.
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There have been 11 violent incidents related to Asian gangs in the city this year, three of them in November, police said.
An Asian-American man was shot to death at a home earlier Sunday but police had not linked that killing to the party attack, Hall said.
The mass shooting in a quiet, working-class neighbourhood erupted in the midst of a low-key family event, Hall said.


“This is truly a good group of people who were simply having a party,” the chief said.
“It’s very devastating, very,” said Paula Yang, a friend of the homeowner, whose brother, Kou Xiong, died in the attack.
“We do not know what to say to people, but we hope that the legal system will find justice.”
She said the shooting has many in the community fearful.
“Even right now, families are gathering inside saying, what can we do to protect our home from this day forward?”
It was the third mass shooting in four days in California.
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Last Thursday, a 16-year-old boy armed with a handgun killed two students and wounded three others at his high school in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita before killing himself.
On Saturday, a San Diego man in the midst of a divorce shot and killed his wife and three of their sons before killing himself. A fourth son was on life-support.
There have been eight mass killings in California so far this year, claiming the lives of 33 people, according to a database compiled by Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. That’s a dramatic increase from previous years, with eight mass killings in the state for all of 2016-2018.
The increase mirrors the national trend in 2019. There have been 39 mass killings this year in the United States, compared with 25 in 2018, according to the database, which tracks homicides where four or more people are killed, not including the offender.


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Gun violence in the US

Police hunt gunmen after famous Hmong singer, three others killed in California backyard shooting

Xy Lee, a Hmong singer and musician whose videos on YouTube have been viewed millions of times, was among four men killed in a shooting by gunmen in Fresno, California. Photo: Facebook

Police work at the scene of a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019, in southeast Fresno, Calif. Multiple people were shot and at least four of them were killed Sunday at a party in Fresno when suspects sneaked into the backyard and fired into the crowd, police said. (Larry Valenzuela/The Fresno Bee via AP)/The Fresno Bee via AP)

Xy Lee, a Hmong singer and musician whose videos on YouTube have been viewed millions of times, was among four men killed in a shooting by gunmen in Fresno, California. Photo: YouTube

People gather late on Sunday near the site of a fatal shooting in Fresno, California. Photo: Fresno Bee via TNS

Three killed in shooting at Walmart in Oklahoma

Law enforcement personnel at the scene of the fatal shooting of two men and a woman on Monday outside a Walmart store in Duncan, Oklahoma. Photo: AP

Police and emergency personnel are on the scene Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019 of a massing shooting in southeast Fresno, Calif. At least 4 men were killed and 6 more men were wounded. (Larry Valenzuela/Fresno Bee/TNS)

epa07760542 A woman and man hug while standing at the makeshift memorial after the mass shooting that happened at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, 07 August 2019. Twenty two people were killed and 26 injured during a mass shooting at the Walmart on 03 August 2019. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old man, accused of the mass shooting. EPA-EFE/LARRY W. SMITH

Teenage gunman who killed two in shooting rampage at California high school dies in hospital

A Saugus High School student is embraced as she visits a makeshift memorial in front of the school for victims of the shooting there on November 15. Photo: AFP

This undated photo provided by the Muehlberger family shows Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 15. She is one of two students who died when Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. Berhow, 16, planned the attack at the Southern California high school, but investigators were so far unable to find out why he brought a gun to campus and opened fire, authorities said Friday. (Muehlberger family via AP)

SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 15: L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies are positioned at Saugus High School a day after a deadly shooting there on November 15, 2019 in Santa Clarita, California. The shooting left two students dead and others wounded while a suspect in the shooting is being treated at a local hospital for a gunshot wound to the head. Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Vietnam’s Hmong Christians are persecuted for their beliefs. Why does their faith make the government so uneasy?

Hmong are originally from China but during the 18th century began migrating to the rugged uplands of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and the eastern parts of Myanmar. Photo: Handout

Hmong Christians at church in Vietnam. Photo: Josep Prat

A Hmong man with a bible.

News

World

United States & Canada


Incident shakes close-knit Fresno neighbourhood, home to mostly Southeast Asian and Latino families
The dead include Xy Lee, a well-known Hmong singer and musician



Incident shakes close-knit Fresno neighbourhood, home to mostly Southeast Asian and Latino families,


Crime

United States

Police hunt gunmen after famous Hmong singer, three others killed in California backyard shooting

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Incident shakes close-knit Fresno neighbourhood, home to mostly Southeast Asian and Latino families The dead include Xy Lee, a well-known Hmong singer and musician

Incident shakes close-knit Fresno neighbourhood, home to mostly Southeast Asian and Latino families

The dead include Xy Lee, a well-known Hmong singer and musician