The suspect who fatally shot ten people in Monterey Park, California Saturday died by suicide after the incident, authorities said.
Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire at a Lunar New Year dance festival at 10:22 p.m., killing ten people and injuring ten more, the Los Angeles sheriff’s department announced. A second possibly related incident occurred in Alhambra, a city outside of Los Angeles.
On Saturday January 21, 2023 at 10:22 PM the suspect male/adult/Asian pictured above was involved in a shooting. Investigators have identified him as a Homicide suspect and he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Contact LASD Homicide with any information at 323-890-5000. pic.twitter.com/2gPUBBybvv— Robert Luna (@LACoSheriff) January 22, 2023
Officials with the Torrance Police Department were notified that a white cargo van resembling one near the location of the shooting was located in their community, about 30 minutes outside of Monterey Park, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Sunday press conference. Officials with the Torrance Police Department spotted the suspect’s white van at a shopping center parking lot at 10:20 a.m. Sunday and heard a gunshot. (RELATED: Los Angeles-Area Mass Shooting Leaves At Least 10 Dead)
The sound led officers to request tactical teams to arrive at the scene and restricted the van’s movement, according to the sheriff’s office. The officials discovered that Tran had been killed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the vehicle. The officers conducted an investigation that linked the suspect to the shooting, including a handgun retrieved from inside the vehicle.
LIVE BREAKING UPDATE: LA Sheriff press conference on Monterey Park mass shooting following standoff — https://t.co/onvrSuLQEj https://t.co/FMEikNeuVW
— ABC 10News San Diego (@10News) January 23, 2023
“As Torrance officers pulled behind the vehicle, the white van entered a shopping center parking lot,” Luna said. “When officers exited their patrol vehicle to contact the occupant, they heard one gunshot coming from within the van. Officers retreated and requested several tactical teams to respond. Two armored vehicles responded, and were able to restrict the van’s movement. At 12:52 p.m., our sheriff’s SWAT team approached and cleared the van and determined the suspect sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Seven people—who all appear to be over the age of 50—remain hospitalized from the incident, Luna said. The shooting inside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park killed five women and five men and wounded ten others. After 20 to 30 minutes, a shooting occurred inside the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra where bystanders wrestled the firearm away from him, leading Tran to flee the scene.
The sheriff’s office are continuing to investigate the motive behind Tran’s motive for the shooting, Luna said.
“I still have questions in my mind, which is: What was the motive for the shooter? Did he have a mental illness? Was he a domestic violence abuser? How did he get these guns and was it through legal means or not?” congresswoman Judy Chu said at the conference.
Luna said there is currently no present danger.