LOS ANGELES (AP) — The suspect in Saturday night’s Lunar New Year mass shooting in Southern California was identified Sunday after he apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna named the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. However, the question of motive in the attack that killed 10 and injured 10 others at a Monterey Park, California, dance hall remained.
«We’re still not clear on the motive,» the sheriff said at a news conference Sunday night. «We want to know.»
Earlier, sources familiar with the investigation of the attack told NBC News that the person in a white pickup truck attached to a traffic stop in the coastal city of Torrance, about 30 miles from the violence, fit the description of a person. seen at the crime scene in Monterey Park and adjacent Alhambra.
Luna said authorities believe the deceased person is in fact the suspect seen at both locations.
Authorities, some appearing to be tactical SWAT officers, surrounded and then stormed the van where the unidentified individual was found dead.
Monterey police officers first responded to a ballroom, identified in government records as the Star Ballroom Dance, after reports of a shooting came in at 10:22 p.m. Saturday, the Monterey County Sheriff said. Los Angeles, Robert Moon. People were running from the hallway as the officers entered the business.
Ten people died at the scene and another 10 were taken to hospitals in stable to critical conditions, Luna said. Four of the injured were being treated at the LAC + USC Medical Center, the hospital confirmed.
Authorities were still working to identify the victims. Luna reported that five were women and five were men.
The suspected gunman may have been an Asian man, Luna said, noting that it was still a preliminary description.
The sheriff’s office released a photo of a suspect and described him as about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a black leather jacket, beanie and glasses.
Asked if the case was being investigated as a hate crime, Luna told reporters that «everything is on the table.»
«We don’t know if this is specifically a hate crime defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and shoots 20 people?» Moon said. «The description we have now is of an Asian male. Does that matter? I don’t know. I can tell you that everything is on the table.»
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Monterey Park police and fire units could be seen encroaching on the area in a video posted to social media. Others showed victims being transferred to ambulances.
Authorities are investigating an incident in Alhambra, just north of Monterey Park, to see if it is related. The sheriff’s department, which has its homicide bureau in the city, was leading the investigation into the mass shooting.
About 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, a man described as Asian entered another ballroom with a firearm, Luna said. The people in the hallway took the gun from him and drove off in a white cargo van.
Luna told a briefing that she believed the Alhambra incident was related to the Monterey Park shooting, but investigators were looking at all possibilities.
Thousands of people had gathered for the Lunar New Year Festival in Monterey Park, a city of about 60,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Asian-American. It’s about 10 miles east of Los Angeles.
More than 50% of Alhambra residents say they are Asian American, according to the US Census Bureau.
The two-day festival event features «food stalls with various types of delicious items, carnival rides and plenty of live entertainment,» according to the city’s website.
Past festivals have drawn crowds of more than 100,000 visitors a day, the city’s website said, drawing crowds from all over Southern California.
Meyer said police «will look at all angles as to whether or not it was a hate crime,» but it was too early in the investigation to know if the attack was racially motivated.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Sunday morning that he was closely monitoring the shooting. His office said he was working with local police in response.
«Monterey Park should have had a night of joyous Lunar New Year celebration,» Newsom said. «Instead, they were the victims of a horrifying and ruthless act of gun violence.»
President Joe Biden said in a statement in the early afternoon that he prays that the injured recover. He said that federal support for the victims would be available.
“I have directed my National Security Adviser to mobilize full federal support for state and local law enforcement as they continue to respond to and investigate this shooting,” the president said. «I want to assure the Monterey Park community and the greater area that we will support them in any way we can.»
Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese told reporters, “I am monitoring this situation closely as it unfolds and urge the community to follow the instructions of local officials and law enforcement in the coming weeks. hours».
Sunday’s event was canceled out of respect for the victims, he said.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., offered her condolences at the news conference. Chu not only represents the district, but she has also lived in Monterey Park for 37 years and was the city’s mayor after being elected in 1990.
«It’s horrifying that such a thing could happen at a time of celebration for so many in the AAPI community and in the Asian community around the world,» Chu said, using the acronym for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. «This is a time to be with family to celebrate, and yet this ripped a hole in all of our hearts.»
The shooting surprised those familiar with the normally quiet area.
Simu Liu, who plays the warrior Shang-Chi in Marvel’s first Asian superhero movie, tweeted that he was «shocked and saddened» by the incident.
“It is home to Asian American families, parents, grandparents, siblings, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. All of whom were looking forward to ringing in the New Year this weekend,” he said.
The latest violence comes two months after five people were killed at a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Linda Takahashi reported from Los Angeles, Cristian Santana and Doha Madani from New York, and Leila Sackur from London.