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Three die at California wedding party

LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A wedding reception went on as planned Sunday at a Cambodian restaurant in Long Beach where a gunman had shot his ex-wife and her boyfriend to death on the crowded dance floor less than 24 hours earlier.

The blood that stained the flooring at La Lune Restaurant, located in Long Beach's large Cambodian immigrant community, was hurriedly mopped up in time for Sunday's scheduled reception for more than 100 people.

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"I certainly think it's an anomaly and I'm not concerned about going back to La Lune," Long Beach City Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "It could have happened anywhere."

La Lune is a popular venue for wedding parties and other festive events among the city's approximately 50,000 Cambodian residents, including the ill-fated marriage of Tanphuc Le and Phaly Kree, who were left dead late Saturday night along with Kree's new boyfriend, Vichekka Chit.

Kree and Chit were reportedly happily dancing together when Le, who had not been invited to the wedding, entered the restaurant with a handgun and shot them both in the head. Another guest tackled Le, who was shot in the head during the struggle.

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"Everyone started screaming," said restaurant manager Michael Saing. "The band stopped playing."

It was not immediately known if Le shot himself or if the gun went off unintentionally during the struggle over the weapon.

A fourth person was shot in the leg by an apparent stray bullet.

"It was terrifying," musician Touch Hon told the Los Angeles Times. "When the dance floor cleared, all I could see were the bodies on the floor and lots of blood."

Le and Kree had been married less than two years, and Kree had obtained a restraining order in August against her former husband, who had moved to California from Cambodia in 1985.

Police hustled the 250 wedding guests to a nearby building for questioning that lasted until the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

In a strange twist, a fire broke out in the La Lune kitchen early Sunday. It was quickly extinguished although a firefighter was injured when he slipped on some grease, the Press-Telegram reported. A stove that had been left on when the kitchen crew had hurriedly fled the restaurant apparently caused the fire.

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