Through most of his career, Monterey Park Fire Chief Matthew Hallock would absorb the news of mass shootings with the discerning eye of a first responder, but with understandable detachment.
His department trained. He cared. His instinct was to think “what if it happened here.” But year after year, shooting after shooting, they never did.
Small suburban L.A. town. Tight-knit, peaceful community. That nightmare could not possibly come to Monterey Park. And then, on a celebratory evening in his city, the dispatch came: “It happened,” he said. 10:20 p.m., Jan. 21, 2023. Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue. Mass shooter. Multiple casualties.
Hallock’s small department of firefighters and paramedics — on the first night of a 48-hour shift — would respond to a scene that up until then was the kind that only happened in other places.