The man who wrestled a gun from California shooting suspect at Alhambra dance hall thought he was going to die: 'This was it,' he said

It was late in the evening Saturday when Brandon Tsay heard the “distinct sound of metal” in the lobby of Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, a dance hall in Alhambra, California,

he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday evening. Tsay, whose family had owned the business for three generations, was working the ticket office when someone entered, and he

knew quickly the silent and stoic man was trouble. The man, who appeared to be scouting the room, then pointed a firearm at him, Tsay said. Tsay froze as he saw the

armed man – who authorities say had just opened fire at a Lunar New Year celebration at another dance studio in nearby Monterey Park, killing 11 people and injuring 10 others.

“I’m going to die. This is it. This is the end for me,” Tsay recalled thinking at that moment. “But then something happened. Something came over me.” He lunged towards

Tran and struggled with him for about 40 seconds, but he said it felt like “way longer.” Tran hit him several times on his face, the back of his head and on his back and hands,

Tsay said. Security footage from the Lai Lai Ballroom shows the suspect entering a door. - Courtesy Brenda Tsay “I was trying to divert the weapon away from me and

the ballroom, down on the ground in case he did fire,” he said. In those seconds, as his life was on the line, Tsay thought to himself, “If I let go of this gun, what

would happen to me, the people around me, my friends, my family?” Tsay was eventually able to pull the gun away from the gunman – the first time he ever held a gun – and

told him to leave, he said.