Melvin Yu walked directly up to a man at a table and shot him nine times, continuing to shoot after that victim had fallen to the floor. Melvin Yu then redirected his automatic rifle and shot randomly into the crowd, accompanied by two shotgun blasts from the other gunmen. The first victim, later identified as Paul Wada, a visiting law student, may have been misidentified as a gang sympathizer. An initial news report incorrectly identified some shooting victims as "highly placed" gang members.