The motive of the crime is currently under investigation, but seeing that the suspect is Vietnamese and all five of the victims were Chinese, the crime was probably not a family feud. His choice of weapon and number of victims indicated that he had very clear objectives and motivations. He did not haphazardly shoot random bullets at his victims but rather deliberately slashed all his victims to death with a machete. At this moment, investigators say that Luc was collecting a gambling debt.

Asian Gangsters:
This highlights an understated problem in the Asian American community: gang violence. Luc, who was reported to be affiliated with a Vietnamese street gang, employed a relatively common tactic among Asian American criminals where gang members barge into a home or small business, tie up the family members, and demand cash and valuables. They often torture, rape, and maim their victims until their demands are met. Luc took this tactic further by killing all his victims.

Asian immigrants who are the victims of such crimes are less likely to report to the police. Some are afraid of deportation while others are afraid that criminal activities will bring shame to the community. Asian families tend not to trust American law enforcement due to their prior experience with law enforcement in their home country or simply a language barrier. Because Asian gangs know many Asian American immigrant families will not report to the police, they target Asian families.

The Model Minority:
Yet, even though the Asian American community has problems with criminality, the model minority myth prevents both Asians and non-Asians from acknowledging it. Luc’s neighbors described the convicted felon as a “fine person, not a criminal.” A court reporter described him as “boyish-looking.” For some reason, people can’t grasp the fact that this man is capable of slaughtering a whole family. We have preconceived stereotypes of what a murderer looks like, and in this instance, the stereotype has blinded us from the reality.

What about the issues surrounding the victims? They might have been entangled with criminal elements in the Asian American community seeing that they had problems with gambling debts. But Jess Lei, a software engineer at Qualitative Medical Systems, was described by her employer as a “smart, quiet person,” so he knew something was wrong when she did not call in for her absence. No one would have suspected her family to be deep in debt with loan sharks and Asian gangsters. If others had found out about the family’s involvement with Asian gangs, they would have acted preemptively to prevent them from being the targets of a madman.

These stereotypes prevent policy makers and law enforcement from providing resources to stamp out criminality in the Asian American community. Families need to be informed and protected from gangs. Most importantly, open dialogue between law enforcement and the community must be maintained to prevent gangs from preying on families like the Leis. Everyone needs to stop burying their heads in the sand and stop crimes like this one before they happen.