The Devastating True Story Behind Rosemead

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The new film Rosemead, releasing in theaters January 9th, is based on the heartbreaking true story of Lai Hang. Facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, the 49-year-old mother made the tragic decision to shoot and kill her 17-year-old son, George, who suffered from schizophrenia, fearing he might commit a mass shooting while he slept.

The movie is based on a 2017 article in the Los Angeles Times about Hang by Frank Shyong. It stars Lucy Liu as Irene, a mother struggling to hide her son Joe’s (Lawrence Shou) schizophrenia from others in her Asian American community, as mental health is a sensitive topic. Irene doesn’t fully trust Joe’s therapist, who encourages her to be more involved in his treatment, and she’s also concerned about Joe’s long-term care after she’s gone.

Here’s what to know about the true story that inspired the 2025 movie. 

The real family that inspired Rosemead

Lai Hang grew up in Laos and Hong Kong. She pursued graphic design studies in Tokyo before moving to the U.S. in 1992. There, she married Peter and started a printing business in Alhambra, California. The business thrived, allowing them to purchase a home in Rosemead. Their son, George, was born in 1998.

Peter passed away from cancer in 2012, while George was starting high school. After his father’s death, George became more withdrawn and distant from his friends. According to the Los Angeles Times, he was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Hang felt isolated after her son’s diagnosis, finding it hard to talk to others due to her upbringing. As the Los Angeles Times reports, many Asian Americans are discouraged from seeking mental health support and were taught to respect others’ privacy during difficult times, believing it was best to avoid publicly acknowledging pain or burdening others with their struggles.

The mental health crisis in Rosemead

In the movie, Irene accidentally hears a group of Asian American mothers talking, and they assume her son is taking medication because they saw him at the local family services center. They believe this means he’s possessed by an evil spirit.

Throughout the movie, Joe struggles with disturbing visions of his deceased father, especially during therapy. He also experiences unsettling auditory hallucinations, hearing voices when he’s with friends. This leads to intense paranoia, causing him to run away from home and panic during a school shooting drill, where he flees his classroom and wanders the halls. School officials become concerned when they discover he’s been entering the school building when it’s closed.

The film depicts how Hang’s son became obsessed with mass shooters, including Dylann Roof, the white supremacist responsible for the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Shortly after the shooting, and on the same day she received a terminal diagnosis, Hang began the process of purchasing a handgun.

In the movie, Irene first visits the gun store to see if the employee recognizes her son. She discovered concerning things on his computer, including articles about school shootings and details about guns. She also found a map of the school covered in disturbing drawings – skulls, the word “hell,” and images of dead bodies – along with hurtful phrases like “nobody likes you.” When Irene asks, the gun store employee claims he only noticed the boy looking at gas masks.

George’s final days

Information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helped Shyong understand what happened to Hang in the days leading up to her death. Records show that on July 27, 2015, she bought a new handgun and checked into a motel with George. The movie depicts them staying at a hotel where George later reveals in therapy that he has fond childhood memories of dancing on the beds with his parents.

According to Shyong, Hang shot George twice in the chest while he was sleeping, then lay beside him in bed. She spent several hours stroking his hair as he bled, telling responding officers she wanted to say goodbye.

The movie features a scene where Joe revisits a motel from his childhood as part of his eighteenth birthday, and Irene surprises him with a pair of sneakers he wanted. Shortly after, she unexpectedly points a gun at him, promising they’ll always be together before firing. Irene falls to the ground, loses consciousness, and then calls 911 when she wakes up. The film concludes after Irene’s death, with a friend holding photos of Irene and her son, intending to burn them as Irene requested, but unable to go through with it.

Hang told an LA County Sheriff’s detective she killed her son because she believed his obsession with violent video games could lead him to become a mass shooter. She explained she killed him to prevent him from harming others. According to reports, she also stated she didn’t attempt suicide because she wanted to suffer the consequences of her actions.

Hang was imprisoned and developed serious health problems, including vision loss in one eye and paralysis. While awaiting trial, a judge granted her release to a hospital due to her cancer, but she sadly passed away there in December 2015.

The most heartbreaking aspect of this story is that Hang didn’t truly have no other choices, even though killing her son might appear to have been a final, desperate act. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Hang could have sought a court order to declare George unable to care for himself and appoint a guardian. She also could have contacted the police or mental health professionals to have him temporarily taken into custody due to an immediate danger to himself or others, potentially leading to long-term psychiatric care.

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2026-01-09 17:07