gunman hunt who killed 10 people in los angeles-area ballroom dance club came to an end on January 23 when authorities found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the van he had fled after people foiled his second shooting attempt.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as 72-year-old Hu Can Tran and said no other suspects were at large. He said the motive for the attack, which wounded 10 more, was unclear.
The weapon suspected to have been used was identified as a magazine-loaded semi-automatic assault pistol, which was also found in the van.
“There are still questions in my mind, which are: What was this shooter’s motive? Did he have a mental illness? Was he a victim of domestic violence? How did he get these guns and was it through legal means or not?” Congresswoman Judy Chu said.
Earlier on Sunday, law enforcement officers surrounded the van and entered the van for hours before letting it go. A man’s body appeared to have fallen over the wheel and was later removed from the vehicle.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna previously released photos of an Asian man believed to be the suspect.
A gunman killed 10 people at a ballroom dance studio late Saturday night amid Lunar New Year celebrations in the predominantly Asian American community of Monterey Park. Authorities said he may have tried and failed to target another dance hall.
Van was found in Torrance, another community home to many Asian Americans about 22 miles (34.5 kilometers) from the second location.
The shooting sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities in the Los Angeles area and cast a shadow over Lunar New Year festivities across the country. Other cities sent additional officers to oversee the celebrations.
“The community was horrified, thinking that they shouldn’t go to an event because there was an active shooter,” Ms. Chu said. She said she wants residents to feel safe now. “Feel safe,” she told residents during a press conference late Sunday. “You are no longer in danger.”
Mr. Luna said five women and five men were killed and 10 others were wounded in the shooting at the Star Ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park. Then 20 to 30 minutes later, a man with a gun entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in the nearby Alhambra.
The suspect entered the Alhambra club with a gun, and before he could flee, people wrestled the weapon from him, Mr. Luna said.
Hours earlier, Mr. Luna said officers were looking for a white van after witnesses saw the suspect flee the Alhambra in such a vehicle.
Members of the SWAT team entered the van a short time later and viewed its contents before leaving. It was not clear what they found.
The massacre was the country’s fifth mass murder this month. It was also the deadliest attack since May 24, when 21 people were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people on the east end of Los Angeles and is made up mostly of Asian immigrants from China or first-generation Asian Americans. Shooting took place in its city center where red lanterns decorated the streets for the Lunar New Year celebration. A police car was parked near a large banner that read “Happy Year of the Rabbit!”
The celebration in Monterey Park is one of California’s largest. A two-day festival was planned, which has been attended by over 100,000 people in previous years. But officials canceled Sunday’s event after the shootings.
Tony Lai, 35, of Monterey Park, was stunned when he heard gunshots in the night when he went out for his morning walk.
“I thought maybe it was fireworks. I thought maybe it had something to do with Lunar New Year,” he said. “And we don’t even get a lot of fireworks here. It’s weird to see. It’s really safe here We’re right in the middle of town, but it’s really safe.
Wynn Liaw, 57, who lives about two blocks from the Monterey Park studios, said she was shocked that such a crime would happen, especially during New Year’s celebrations.
“Chinese people, they consider Chinese New Year very, very special”—a time when “you don’t do anything that will bring bad luck for the whole year,” she said.
She took a photo of the activity outside the studio to send to relatives and friends in China “to let them know how crazy America is going to be with all these mass shootings even in the new year.”
One Associated Press/USA Today The database on mass killings in the US shows 2022 was one of the country’s worst years, with 42 such attacks – the second-highest figure since the tracker was created in 2006. The database defines mass murder as four people, not including the perpetrator.
The latest violence comes two months after five people were killed at a Colorado Springs nightclub.
Aides said President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the situation. Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were thinking of those killed and injured, and directed federal authorities to support the investigation.
The shooting took place at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, a few blocks from City Hall on the main thoroughfare of Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park, a strip mall dotted with small businesses whose signs are in both English and Chinese. Both Cantonese and Mandarin are widely spoken, Chinese holidays are celebrated and Chinese films are shown regularly in the city.
The business offered dance lessons from tango to rumba to fox trot, and rented out its space for events. On Saturdays, its website said, it was hosting a program called “Star Night” from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.