At Least 10 Killed In Monterey Park Shooting; Suspect Found Dead

Ten people are dead and at least 10 others were injured in a mass shooting in Monterey Park Saturday night.

The suspect, identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found dead in a white van in Torrance from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“The suspect in that tragedy is no longer with us,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. He is no longer a threat.”

According to authorities, gunfire erupted around 10:20 p.m. inside Star Ballroom Dance Studio, located at 122 W. Garvey Ave in a predominantly Asian community several miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Luna said five men and five women were killed and another 10 wounded in the shooting.

The 10 wounded individuals were transported to local hospitals, where seven of them remained as of Sunday night. The victims all appeared to be at least 50 years old.

Then, 20 to 30 minutes later, a man with a gun entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby neighborhood Alhambra. Luna said a magazine-fed semi automatic assault pistol with extended large capacity magazine was recovered from the location. He said that he believes that type of weapon is not legal in California, but that more “research” was needed.

“He walked in there with a firearm and some individuals wrestled the firearm away from him, and that individual took off,” Luna said earlier Sunday.

An hours-long manhunt led officers to a white van in Torrance, about 25 miles southwest of Monterey Park. Police in tactical vehicles and bomb-squad trucks surrounded the van in a parking lot.

Tran was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the vehicle.

The investigation remains ongoing while detectives attempt to determine a motive. Some reports say jealousy and domestic dispute played a part but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The celebration in Monterey Park is one the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California. Two days of festivities were planned but officials canceled Sunday’s events following the shooting.