Two men in their 60s stabbed to death at private club in Chinatown, police say
Two men were stabbed to death Thursday in Chinatown while playing Mahjong, and police were canvassing the area in search of the suspected killer, authorities said.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the 900 block of North Broadway about 2:45 p.m. after receiving reports of gunshots, said LAPD Officer Irma Mota.
Police arrived at the Hop Sing Tong Benevolent Assn. — a private social club — and found two men in their 60s with fatal stab wounds, Officer Tony Im said.
Their attacker has not been found, and Mota could not say whether a weapon was found at the scene.
Investigators were reviewing surveillance footage and questioning witnesses to try to identify the killer.
The investigation is ongoing.
The deaths mark the second and third homicides in Chinatown in the last 12 months, according to The Times’ Homicide Report database.
Hop Sing Tong, one of many benevolent associations that Chinese immigrants founded in the second half of the 19th century, has seen deadly violence before.
In 1994, the president of the social club, Phillip Lieu, was repeatedly shot in the head by another member as he left the the private club one night.
Founded in San Francisco in 1870, Hop Sing Tong opened a chapter in L.A. about six years later.
The club was particularly important for networking among Chinese immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, providing kinship at a time when many relied on family and geographic ties for housing and jobs.
Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
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UPDATES:
10:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the circumstances of the slayings.
6:05 p.m.: This article was updated with a description of the assailant.
This article was originally published at 4:35 p.m.
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