Tens of Thousands Mark Tet in Little Saigon

WESTMINSTER —  The celebration of Tet, the Vietnamese new year, drew a jubilant crowd in the tens of thousands Saturday to this city’s downtown shopping district, but organizers said the festival’s theme of hope and harmony was tainted by a nearby gang shooting that left three people injured.

The shooting, believed by police to be a gang-style hit, took place in a dim cafe a full half-mile from the festival’s west entrance on Bolsa Avenue, but Westminster Councilman Tony Lam said the violence was close enough to cast a shadow over the Little Saigon celebration.

“Why must this happen?” asked Lam, the lead organizer of the city’s festival. “Why must this continue, that the young men in these gangs have to give our community a bad name? It was an isolated incident, away from the festival, but it gives people a bad impression.”

The shooting at the Cafe Thach Thao left three young men hospitalized, one of them in critical condition. Police said a lone gunman ducked into the coffeehouse, saw his intended victim and opened fire. One of the injured men was believed to be a bystander using a pay phone when the violence erupted. The gunman fled and no arrests were made.

While police were quick to say the incident was fueled by a gang rivalry and was not connected to the Tet celebration, the festival’s imagery produced an odd backdrop for the crime scene. Festival-goers and a troupe of colorfully dressed dragon dancers milled about behind yellow police tape, and some of the white doves released during the festival--a symbol of freedom and hope--flew overhead as witnesses were questioned.

Two security guards hired to patrol the shopping center parking lot said the gunman fired a half-dozen shots into the cafe before ducking into a lowered, black compact car, possibly a Honda or Acura. The gunman was described by police as a young Asian man, 5-foot-4 with a slight build. Witnesses said he was wearing a baseball cap and a black sweatshirt with no hood.

Westminster Police Capt. Andy Hall said the shooting was another in a series of dangerous incidents that has produced violence in some of the city’s dark, smoky cafes. A city ordinance requiring security measures at those cafes is being crafted in the hopes of deterring crime, which has included five cafe killings in two years.

Police said the victims included Toan Tran, 20, of Aurora, Colo., who was in critical condition late Saturday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana; Long Le, 21, of Westminster, in serious condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange; and Kevin Le, 28, of Garden Grove, in good condition at UCI Medical Center.

The three victims did not appear to have any connection, police said. “To the best of our knowledge, there were seven people in the cafe,” Lt. James Waller said. “The patrons saw this guy coming and tried to make a dash out the back door.”

Most among the record crowd enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of Tet were oblivious to the 2 p.m. shooting.

The huge turnout made for tight quarters in the short section of street fenced off for the event. Three times during the day, organizers stopped ticket sales to let the crowd thin out, and long lines sent some visitors home early.

The festival, along Bolsa Avenue between Bushard and Moran streets, continues today with another dragon dance at 11 a.m., followed by a martial arts exhibition, a children’s costume contest and musical performances, along with the street festival.

On Saturday, a mile north in Garden Grove, another 2,500 people enjoyed carnival rides and a vast array of Asian foods at a second Tet festival, this one sponsored by the Vietnamese American Community of Southern California. The event at the Garden Grove Park--off Westminster Avenue near Atlantis Way--also continues today and features rides, food, cultural exhibitions and performances.

At both festivals, crowd members talked about the meaning of the holiday, which honors ancestors, marks the new year and, traditionally, signaled the start of a new harvest season.

For the Vietnamese people, the holiday is like Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day all rolled into one, Vanessa Vuong said as she watched dragon dancers perform.

“It is special, just very, very special,” the 32-year-old Huntington Beach resident said. “It’s about the past and the future.”

The past was very much on the mind of Giai Nguyen, 83, who served as chu le, the leader of a solemn Tet ceremony that praised ancestors and offered them gifts of wine, flowers and food. One of the gifts, a bowl of fruit, was especially appropriate, he said with a wide smile.

“Oranges! Just like Orange County,” he said. “We give the gifts to honor the ancestors. We are here now, so our ancestors are here, too. They will always be with us.”

Times staff writer Rebecca Trounson contributed to this report