According to police, 72-year-old Hu Can Tran is the sole suspect in the massacre at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park during a Lunar New Year celebration.
California police, searching for answers about a motive for one of the worst mass killings in the state’s history, today searched the home of an elderly man who killed 10 people at a Los Angeles dance hall and then took his own life.
According to police, 72-year-old Hu Can Tran is the sole suspect in the massacre at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park during a Lunar New Year celebration.
This place is very popular mainly with elderly people of Asian origin.
Tran, a former housekeeper described as “angry and suspicious”, killed ten people aged 50-80 and injured as many others.
On Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said “everything is on the table,” referring to the cause of the attack.
However, Monterey Park Mayor Henry Law told NBC that authorities are looking into the attacker’s “personal relationships” as a possible motive.
Tran lived in Hemet, California and frequented the ballroom. It’s possible his target was his ex-wife, according to Law.
Police officers from Hemet, about 100 kilometers from Los Angeles, are helping with the search at Tran’s home in a gated senior community, said Alan Reyes, a spokesman for local authorities.
The investigation began around 8:30 p.m. Sunday night and continued today, he said, clarifying that Tran was not known to local police.
Tran had a truck driver’s license and a company in his name, Tran’s Trucking Inc, whose address was in Monterey Park. He’s lived in the Los Angeles area since at least the 90s and moved into a mobile home in Hemet in 2020.
Adam Hood, who rented a property from Tran in the Los Angeles area for many years, told Reuters that he was aggressive and suspicious, with few friends. But he liked dancing, it was almost his only social activity.
According to Hood, he was complaining that people at the Star Ballroom were talking behind his back. “He was a good dancer, in my opinion. But he was suspicious of the people in the ballroom, angry and suspicious. I think he couldn’t take it anymore,” he said.
Tragedy and pursuit
The tragedy could be even greater. About 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shootings, Tran walked into the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the neighboring city of Alhambra.
There, Brandon Chai, the owner of the family business, fought him and grabbed his gun before he could fire a single bullet.
“At that moment, some primitive instinct was awakened. Something happened. I don’t know what came over me,” Tsai told the New York Times, explaining that the gunman left after they fought for about 90 seconds.
Nearly 12 hours later, police in Torrance, southwest of Monterey Park, located the white van Tran was driving. As they approached it, they heard a shot. Tran had killed himself.
Authorities have not yet released the names of all the victims, as their families must be notified first.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, two women, Mi Nan, 65, and Lilan Li, 63, were among the victims.
American media reported that one of the victims was the owner and dance teacher Ming Wei Ma, who tried to disarm the attacker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvD2gN4YlA
Seven of the ten injured are still in hospitals.
A vigil will be held tonight at Monterey Park City Hall in memory of the victims.
Luna said the gun Tran used was likely illegal in California because it had a high-capacity magazine.
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