MONTEREY PARK, Calif. The man suspected of killing 10 people in a shooting barrage amid Lunar New Year festivities in Southern California shot himself to death in his van as law enforcement agents approached Sunday, authorities said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as Huu Can Tran, 72, during a news conference Sunday. Luna said Tran's white van was spotted in Torrance, California, about 22 miles from the site of Saturday night's attack at a Monterey Park dance studio.
When the officers got off their patrol car around 10:20 a.m. Sunday, they heard a gunshot from the van and called for help, Luna said.
“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,'' Luna said. "Investigators conducted a search of the vehicle and determined the male inside the van was the mass shooting suspect.
The investigation continues. We want to know,'' Luna said. "We want to know how something like this, something this awful can happen.’’
Luna said an Asian man with a gun entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra about 20 to 30 minutes after the first shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, a predominantly Asian American community. Patrons at Lai Lai wrestled a gun from the attacker, Luna said, adding later that the firearm was a “magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol.’’ Another handgun was discovered in the van, he said.
The shooting and manhunt sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities in the Los Angeles area and prompted other cities to send extra officers to watch over the celebrations.
“The community was in fear thinking that they should not go to any events because there was an active shooter,” Rep. Judy Chu said at an evening news conference. “You are no longer in danger.”
Ten people were hospitalized as a result of the assault at the Monterey Park venue, some of them in critical condition. Seven were still in the hospital Sunday night, Luna said.