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Police are investigating motive after Monterey Park massacre leaves 10 dead and a city reeling during Lunar New Year celebrations
CNN
Investigators in Monterey Park, California, are still searching for the motive of a gunman who killed 10 people and injured 10 others during a shooting inside a ballroom dance studio Saturday night, devastating the majority-Asian community on the eve of its Lunar New Year celebration.
Terror continued overnight and into Sunday as the gunman had still not been caught and some had not been reunited with their loved ones. Ultimately, the city canceled the second day of its Lunar New Year festival, typically one of its most joyous holidays.
Eventually, a suspect identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran was located in the nearby city of Torrance, where he died after shooting himself as police approached his vehicle, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday.
Hours earlier, a gunman had walked into Star Ballroom Dance Studio shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, not long after the city’s streets had been crowded by thousands of festival-goers, the sheriff said.
After releasing a barrage of gunfire on the people inside, the gunman drove to a second dance hall in neighboring Alhambra where he entered with a firearm but fled after being disarmed by two patrons, Luna said.
When police arrived at the dance studio in Monterey Park less than three minutes after the first call for help, “they came across a scene that none of them had been prepared for,” city police chief Scott Wiese said. The shooter had inflicted “extensive” carnage, leaving behind chaos as people fled the building with those dead and injured still inside, he said.
The suspected gunman had once been a regular patron of the dance hall, where he gave informal dance lessons and met his ex-wife, three people who knew him told CNN.
“I’ve lived here for 37 years, and I could never have imagined such a terrible thing happening,” Rep. Judy Chu, who represents Monterey Park in Congress, told CNN Sunday, adding, “This is a tight-knit community and it has been very peaceful all these years, so that’s why it is even more shattering to have this happen.”
Authorities have not named any of those killed or injured. The coroner’s office is still working to identify the deceased so police can notify their families, Luna said, adding that the victims are generally older than 50. Seven of the injured victims were still hospitalized Sunday, he said.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Suspect found in nearby city: At around 10:20 a.m. Sunday, police in the city of Torrance – about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park – spotted a white cargo van matching the description of one seen leaving the scene of the Alhambra dance studio, Luna said. Officers followed the van into a shopping center parking lot and began getting out of their patrol car to approach the driver – later identified as Tran – but retreated when they heard a gunshot from inside the van, he said. Armored vehicles and SWAT teams arrived and eventually cleared the van, discovering Tran dead inside.
- Evidence links suspect to shooting: Inside the van, investigators found “several pieces of evidence” linking Tran to both the Monterey Park and Alhambra dance studios, the sheriff said, not providing further details. They also found a handgun, Luna said. Police previously said a gun was wrestled from the armed man at the Alhambra dance studio.
- Suspect was carrying semi-automatic weapon: Luna described the firearm taken from the man in Alhambra as a “magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol” with an extended, large-capacity magazine. A law enforcement official told CNN it was a Cobray M11 9mm semi-automatic weapon.
- Motive still unknown: Investigators have yet to determine a motive, Luna said, but will be considering any available criminal or mental health history and issue a search warrant to find more details. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has obtained a search warrant for Tran’s home in Hemet, California, about 80 miles east of Monterey Park, a Hemet Police spokesperson confirmed.
- “Even as we continue searching for answers about this attack, we know how deeply this attack has impacted the (Asian American Pacific Islander) community. Monterey Park is home to one of the largest AAPI communities in America, many of whom were celebrating the Lunar New Year along with loved ones and friends this weekend,” Biden said.
Suspect used to frequent the dance hall, sources say
Tran had once been a familiar face at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, three people who knew him told CNN, though it is unclear how often he visited the venue, if at all, in recent years.
He even met his ex-wife there about two decades ago, she said in an interview. Tran saw her at a dance, introduced himself and offered her free lessons, she said.
The two married soon after they met, according to the ex-wife, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the case. While Tran was never violent to her, she said he could be quick to anger. For example, she said, if she missed a step dancing, he would become upset because he felt it made him look bad. She said that after several years together, she got the impression that he had lost interest in her. Her sister, who also asked not to be named, confirmed her account.
Tran filed for divorce in late 2005, and a judge approved the divorce the following year, Los Angeles court records show.
Another long-time acquaintance of Tran’s also remembered him as a regular patron of the dance studio. The friend, who also asked not to be named, was close to Tran in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when he said Tran would come to the dance studio “almost every night” from his home in nearby San Gabriel.
Tran often complained at the time that the instructors at the dance hall didn’t like him and said “evil things about him,” the friend remembered, adding that Tran was “hostile to a lot of people there.”
More generally, Tran was easily irritated, complained a lot, and didn’t seem to trust people, the friend said.
Tran’s friend said he hadn’t seen Tran in several years and was “totally shocked” when he heard about the shooting.
“I know lots of people, and if they go to Star studio, they frequent there,” the friend said, adding that he was “worried maybe I know some of” the shooting victims.
Tran worked as a truck driver at times, his ex-wife said. He was an immigrant from China, according to a copy of his marriage license she showed to CNN.
In 2013, Tran sold his San Gabriel home, which he had owned for more than two decades, property records show. Seven years later, records show, he bought a mobile home in a senior citizens community in Hemet. A spokesperson for Hemet Police confirmed the location of his home to CNN Sunday.
Monterey Park mass shooting: Gunman shot himself while police closed in on van
The deceased suspect has been identified by authorities as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. He was found slumped behind the wheel of a white van in Torrance, about 30 miles away from where the shooting occurred in Monterey Park, and pronounced dead at the scene in the parking lot of a Japanese grocery store.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed the suspect shot himself as police officers closed in on the van he used to flee the scene of an attempted second shooting in Alhambra. No other suspects were at large.
"The suspect sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene," Sheriff Luna said.
The sheriff added the suspect was carrying what he described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second handgun was discovered in the van where Tran was found dead.
He said “several pieces of evidence” linking him to both Monterey Park and Alhambra, were found in the van which had stolen plates.
The sheriff did not provide the exact ages of the victims, but said they all appeared to be aged over 50. Five of the victims were male and five were female. Seven of the wounded remained in hospital, with at least one person in a critical condition.
The mass shooting – the worst in the US since last May - occurred at the Star Ballroom Dance Club dance studio in Monterey Park, a city of 60,000 on the outskirts of Los Angeles with a substantial Asian population, during a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday.
"I still have questions in my mind, which is: What was the motive for this shooter? Did he have a mental illness? Was he a domestic violence abuser? How did he gets these guns and was it through legal means or not?" Congresswoman Judy Chu said at the press conference.
Sheriff Luna said the gunman's motive remained unclear. About 20 to 30 minutes after the first attack, the gunman entered Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra. He fled after revellers wrestled the gun away from him.
"I can tell you that the suspect walked in there, probably with the intent to kill more people, and two brave community members decided they were going to jump into action and disarm him," Sheriff Luna said.
"They took possession of the weapon, and the suspect ran away."
Earlier, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department released a photograph of the suspect wearing a black leather jacket, glasses and a beanie.
US President Joe Biden said his Homeland Security Advisor had been directed to "mobilise full federal support" for investigations into the "senseless attack" causing trauma to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) communities.
"While there is still much we don’t know about the motive...we do know that many families are grieving tonight, or praying that their loved one will recover from their wounds," Mr Biden said.
"Even as we continue searching for answers about this attack, we know how deeply this attack has impacted the AAPI community. Monterey Park is home to one of the largest AAPI communities in America."
Mr Biden directed that flags be lowered until sunset on January 26 "as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on January 21, 2023, in Monterey Park, California".
Saturday night’s attack was also the second mass shooting in California within days following the slaughter of six people in Tulare County, including a 16-year-old mother and her 10-month-old baby.
Thousands of people were due to attend the two days of festivities at Monterey Park, one of the largest celebrations of the Lunar New Year in California. Events were cancelled as police embarked on the manhunt.
The Monterey Park shooting – described by Sheriff Luna as a “most heinous event” – took place at 10.20 pm on Saturday.
Revellers fled in panic as bullets flew.
Seung Won Choi, who owns a local restaurant, told the LA Times that people rushed in and told him to lock the door.
Wong Wei, another local resident, told the paper that a friend was in the dance hall when the shooter began firing indiscriminately.
She left the hall and saw the gunman and three bodies.
Tony Lai, 35, a local resident, thought the noises he heard on Saturday night were part of the festivities.
"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 this. It's really safe here. We're right in the middle of the city, but it's really safe."
Sheriff Luna voiced his horror at the slaughter. “Who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people?”
Chester Chong, the leader of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, told ABC7 that he believed it was sparked by a row between a man and his wife.
Local member of Congress Judy Chu described Monterey Park as a “beautiful community”.
She told CNN: “It is a community that ensures people are safe and that there’s a high quality of life.
“It is a tight-knit community,” she added. “That is why it is even more shattering to have this happen.”
California governor, Gavin Newsom wrote on Twitter the city of Monterey Park “should have had a night of joyful celebration” and instead experienced a “horrific and heartless act of gun violence” .
The latest shooting was the fifth mass killing since the beginning of the year reigniting the debate on America’s gun laws.
Last year was already one of the worst in American history for mass shootings – defined as where four people, not counting the perpetrator, were killed.
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