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The gunman who killed 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey, California was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the van he used to flee after his attempt at a second shooting was thwarted.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran and said no other suspects were at large. He added that the motive remained unclear for the attack, which wounded 10 others. Seven people remain hospitalized.
The weapon suspected to have been used was identified as a magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol, which was also found in the van, Luna said.Â
Earlier Sunday, law enforcement officials swarmed and entered the van after surrounding it for for hours before going in and finding Tran’s body in the driver’s seat slumped over the steering wheel.
The standoff came after 10 people were shot and killed at a ballroom dance studio late Saturday amid Lunar New Years celebrations in the predominantly Asian American community of Monterey Park.
A man suspected to be the Chinese Lunar New Year gunman is seen slumped over the steering wheel in the driver’s seat of a van in Torrance, California following a standoff with police
A weapon is seen in a box as crime scene investigators are at the scene in Torrance, California where it’s believed the alleged Chinese lunar New Year gunman was found dead in a white van
Aerial footage of crime scene where the man that CBS News confirmed with law enforcement sources is the suspected mass shooting gunman that opened fire on Saturday nightÂ
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna previously released photos of an Asian man who was believed to be the suspect, but he did not release the man’s name
Luna said the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park left five women and five men dead and wounded another 10 people. Then 20 to 30 minutes later, a man with a gun entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra.
The suspect entered the Alhambra club with a gun, and people wrestled the weapon away from him before he fled, Luna said.
‘Remember, the suspect went to the Alhambra location after he conducted the shooting and he was disarmed by two community members who I consider to be heroes,’ Luna said on Sunday.
He added: ‘They saved lives. This could’ve been much worse. The weapon that we recovered at that second scene I am describing as a magazine-fed semiautomatic assault pistol. Not an assault rifle, but an assault pistol that had an extended large capacity magazine attached to it.’Â
Hours earlier, Luna said authorities were looking for a white van after witnesses reported seeing the suspect flee from Alhambra in such a vehicle.
Members of a SWAT team entered the van a short time later and looked through its contents before walking away. It was unclear what they found.
The massacre was the nation’s fifth mass killing this month. It was also the deadliest attack since May 24, when 21 people were killed in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The shooting and manhunt sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities in the Los Angeles area and cast a shadow over Lunar New Year festivities around the country. Other cities sent extra officers to watch over the celebrations.Â
A law enforcement official walks past a body slumped over in the driver’s seat of a van in Torrance, California, on Sunday after a standoff with police
Aerial footage shows officials pulling unknown items from the white van after the standoff
What appears to be bloody material is piled next to the white van as SWAT inspect the vehicle
Aerial shots show the van that was being pursued in relation to the mass shooting sandwiched between two armored SWAT vansÂ
A number of incidents took place over a wide portion of the Los Angeles area on Sunday all believed to have been perpetrated by the same suspect
Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, officers arrived on the scene of the shooting in response to a call of shots fired and found 10 people wounded outside the dance studio. The 10 wounded individuals were transported to local hospitals where they are in stable to critical condition, according to Luna.
The massacre was the nation’s fifth mass killing this month. It was also the deadliest attack since May 24, when 21 people were killed in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.Â
On Sunday, members of a SWAT team entered the van a short time later and looked through its contents before walking away. It was unclear what they found. But aerial video showed police removing a handgun from the vehicle.Â
The three-hour standoff ended when police broke into the vehicle and pulled out a mound of bloody sheets on Sunday afternoon.
By midday, police in tactical vehicles and bomb-squad trucks surrounded a white van in a parking lot 22 miles from Alhambra in Torrance, another majority Asian community.
‘We believe there is a person inside of that vehicle. We don’t know their condition, but we’re going to handle that in safest manner that we possibly can and try and identify that person. Could it be our suspect? Possibly,’ Luna said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau High-Risk Tactical/Rescue Team tweeted that an operation in Torrance was over and the area safe
Police release photo of the suspect in the Monterey Park Chinese Lunar New Year massacre
Reports from the scene in Torrance, California say there is what appears to be a bullet hole in the front window of the white vehicle
Aerial footage of a white van that may be related to the Chinese Lunar New Year massacre
Up close shot of the barricaded suspect van boxed in between two large armored SWAT vans in Torrance, California
Multiple casualties were reported after the shooting in California during New Year celebrations
Police also said they were investigating whether a second shooting at Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra (pictured) was linked. No one was killed in Alhambra
Several residents react as they stand near a ballroom dance club in Monterey Park, California on Sunday January 22
Sunday Lunar New Year celebrations around the area of the mass shooting were canceled
As officers during the standoff commanded the van’s occupant to exit the van, they reportedly heard the driver shoot himself.
For many tense moments following, the operation for the SWAT team became getting inside the van.Â
Eventually, officers smashed their way into the vehicle before before moving on to a second, similar-looking van nearby where they cracked the lock and forced their way in through the back.
The sheriff’s office moments earlier said the man in the first vehicle matched the description of their suspect, of whom they had released a photograph.
The incident, which was in Torrance, 30 miles south of LA, came after cops launched a multi-agency manhunt for the suspected gunman who killed ten in Monterey Park last night.
Aerial footage captured a white van sandwiched between two armored black SWAT vans in a parking lot. Police had previously said they were on the lookout for a white ‘van of interest.’
A local report of the scene in Torrance says that the SWAT vehicles had ordered the driver to roll down his window and throw out his weapon. There was also what appeared to be a bullet hole in the window shield.
The LA Sheriff’s Department had released pictures identifying the shooting suspect. He is described as an Asian male, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds.
Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna spoke with media during a Sunday morning presser
Police vehicles continue to circumnavigate the area in the aftermath of the shooting
Firefighters were spotted treating the wounded in the parking lot outside the dance studio on Saturday night
Dozens of cops and firefighters swarmed the scene but the gunman remained on the loose as of Sunday morning
The scene was largely taped off with only officers and FBI agents piecing together what happened
The Lunar New Year massacre may have been the result of a domestic dispute between a husband and wife, a local business leader has claimed.
Head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, Chester Chong, told a local ABC7 outlet that he believes the massacre was not a hate crime, but rather an instance of domestic unrest taken to the extreme.
He said he believes the shooting was caused because of hatred between a ‘wife and husband,’ and that it was a ‘personal case’ taken to horrific ends.
On Sunday morning, law enforcement in California said the suspect who shot up the Star Ballroom dance club has been described as an ‘Asian man,’ and that they believe the suspect is linked to another shooting two miles down the road.
On Saturday night just after 10pm, the gunman shot up the Star Ballroom dance hall in Monterey, California just after a local Lunar New Year celebration. He then fled the scene and made his way to the Lai Lai ballroom in nearby Alhambra, where another shooting occurred but no one was killed.
Horrifying pictures showed victims being stretched from the scene before being rushed to hospital as cops and ambulances swarmed the area.
Cops said throngs of terrified festivalgoers streamed out of the area ‘screaming’ as bullets continued to fly.
Monterey Park has canceled the Lunar New Year events that were scheduled to take place Sunday near and around the dance hall.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that the 10 victims who were injured but not pronounced dead at the scene, were left in stable to critical condition.
Luna said that members of his force are searching fervently for the suspect: ‘I see it in their eyes. They want to go get this guy, and they’re going to.’
The second shooting occurred at Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra. No one was killed.Â
Scott Wiese, the Monterey Park Police Chief said that, while it is now safe to attend Lunar New Year celebrations in other parts of the community, the investigation that was launched today is large and ‘will go on for many days and perhaps many months.’
Wiese said law enforcement is looking for information from the community and hope members will work closely with law enforcement as the search continues.
Local restaurant owner Seung Won Choi told the LA Times three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.
Choi said he was told there was a man with a machine-gun, and believes there shooting took place at a dance club.
He added the man had multiple rounds of ammunition on him and would reload every time he ran out.
Local resident Wong Wei told the Los Angeles Times his friend was at the dance club, and was in the bathroom when shooting broke out.
When she emerged, she said she saw a gunman and three bodies – two women and one person who he said was the boss of the club.
Interior of the Star Ballroom in Monterey Park, California where the shooting took place Saturday nightÂ
Community members were out dancing and celebrating following a Lunar New Year celebration that had ended about an hour before the shooting
Investigators gather at a scene where a shooting took place in Monterey Park on Saturday night
Entrance to the Star Ballroom, where the shooting took place. Multiple investigators remain on the scene as morning arrived in Monterey Park
Daytime aerial view of the dance hall where 10 people were shot dead Saturday night
Dozens of police officers are responding to reports of a shooting on 22 January in California
Armed officers were stationed outside an Asian store following the mass shooting on Saturday night
Captain Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said people were ‘pouring out of the location screaming’ when officers arrived on the scene.
He said police then went into the dance ballroom as firefighters treated the wounded.
He noted that authorities are investigating ‘every angle’ to determine whether or not the shooting was racially motivated.
Ten deaths and ten injuries makes it the joint fourth most deadly shooting in California’s history.
It also marks the fifth mass shooting in the US this month and the deadliest since 21 people were killed in a school in Uvalde, Texas.
The deadliest shooting in California history was in 1984 when a gunman killed 21 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, near San Diego.Â
The latest violence comes two months after five people were killed at a Colorado Springs nightclub.
As daybreak arrived in the area surrounding the Star Ballroom, law enforcement vehicles remained abundant
Firefighters were pictured helping the injured in a parking lot near the scene of the attack on Saturday night
Two police officers stand guard near a scene where a shooting took place in Monterey Park
The officers stand guard at the scene near the intersection of Garvey and Garfield Avenue
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Captain Andrew Meyer talks to reporters during a briefing in Monterey Park early Sunday morning
This image shows the inside of the nightclub where the shots were fired and at least ten people were slain
Investigators gather at a scene where a shooting took place in Monterey Park, California
The attack occurred at 10.22pm, roughly one hour after Chinese New Year celebrations had concluded nearby.
Tens of thousands of people had attended the two-day festival earlier in the day, which is one of the largest in Southern California.
Footage posted on social media showed deserted, cordoned-off streets guarded by police cars.
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles county, around 7 miles from downtown Los Angeles, with a population of about 60,000 people.
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia tweeted: ‘Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred.
‘Monterey Park is home to one of the largest Asian communities in Los Angeles County and many were out celebrating the Lunar New Year.’
According to demographic data, Monterey Park is home to an Asian majority population. About 65 percent of the community’s roughly 60,000 residents are Asian.
Early on Sunday morning, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that President Joe Biden has ‘been briefed by the Homeland Security Advisor’ on the shooting and ‘directed her to make sure that the FBI is providing full support to local authorities, and tp update him regularly today as more details are known.’
The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office has joined the sheriff’s department and Monterey Park Police in the investigation.
California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote Sunday morning: Monterey Park should have had a night of joyful celebration of the Lunar New year. Instead, they were the victims of a horrific and heartless act of gun violence.
‘Our hearts mourn as we learn more about the devastating acts of last night. We are monitoring the situation closely.’
Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expressed her condolences in a Sunday morning statement: ‘Families deserve to celebrate the holidays in peace – mass shooting and gun violence are a plague in our communities’
She added that investigators are working to determine whether the shooting was a manifestation of ‘Asian hate,’ and said that her ‘heart goes out to Monterey Park and the families and friends of those lost.’Â
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also weighed in Sunday morning, tweeting that she is ‘heartbroken by the horrific shooting.’
‘At what should be a time of Lunar New Year celebration, the scourge of gun violence has struck yet another community – we must put an end to these senseless tragedies,’ she wrote.Â
The interior of the Star Ballroom dance hall, where a gunman killed at least 10 people Saturday night
Star Ballroom owner Maria Liang, who left a successful career in business to open the dance hall in 2013
The first shooting happened on the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue, which is where the Star ballroom dance studio is based (pictured)
A second shooting, which cops were probing if it was related, happened at nearby Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra (pictured)
Armed police held a large presence, including helicopters, after the Monterey Park shooting
The Star Ballroom Dance Studio opened a decade ago and is owned by Maria Liang, a former banker for the East West Bank – a popular bank among the Chinese-American community.
While in China, she worked for Nike and Australian energy company Norton Christensen. Though, it was her passion for dance that led her to open the Star Ballroom Dance Studio a decade ago.
It has since become one of the most popular professionals ballroom studios in Southern California.
As members of the Chinese-American community in Monterey Park celebrated the incoming year of the rabbit on Saturday night, they were expecting to embrace a coming year full of relaxation, quietness and contemplation – all concepts that are symbolized by the rabbit.
The outgoing year of the Tiger was meant to be filled with positive and active thought, according to Chinese cosmological philosophy. But those celebrating the Year of the Rabbit suffered a rude awakening Saturday evening when the year broke out with a mass shooting.
Dr. Hongling Liang, a lecturer at University of Glasgow’s School of Modern Languages and Culture told the BBC, ‘The rabbit is a very gentle and clever animal. It may not be the strongest of the 12 animals, but its charm and speed attracts good qualities such as money, partnership and success.’
According to Chinese tradition the year of the rabbit is meant to be ‘calm and gentle, bringing an energy that will help those looking for more of a balanced life.’
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