Lunar New Year shooting: Alleged shooter found dead from self-inflicted wound

MONTEREY PARK, California. – On Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers crowded and entered a white van that officials suspect was being driven by a suspected gunman who opened fire on a ballroom dance studio in Southern California, killing 10 people and injuring 10 more.

The police surrounded the van with tactical vehicles and sapper trucks for several hours before going inside. The man’s body appeared to be lying on the wheel, but authorities did not immediately identify the man in the van. FOX 11 reports that the body found had gunshot wounds. It is unclear if they were self-inflicted.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna later confirmed that the driver was the suspected shooter and identified him as Huu Kang Tran, 72, an Asian man. Luna said that Tran died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Luna previously posted photos of an Asian man thought to be a suspect, but did not name him.

The manhunt began after a gunman killed 10 people at a ballroom dance studio late Saturday night during a Lunar New Year celebration in the predominantly Asian-American community of Monterey Park. He likely tried and failed to target a second dance hall, authorities said.

The van was found in Torrance, another predominantly Asian locality, about 22 miles (34.5 km) from this second location.

The shooting sparked a wave of fear in Asian American communities in the Los Angeles area and cast a shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations across the country. Other cities sent additional officers to oversee the celebrations.

Luna said the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park left five women and five men dead and 10 others injured. Then, after 20-30 minutes, a man with a gun entered the Lai Lai ballroom in the nearby Alhambra.

Authorities believe the two events are linked. They did not provide any details about possible motives.

According to Luna, the suspect entered the Alhambra club with a gun and people snatched the weapon from him before he fled.

Hours earlier, Luna said authorities were looking for a white van after witnesses reported seeing a suspect fleeing the Alhambra in such a vehicle.

“We believe there is a person inside this vehicle. We don’t know their condition, but we’re going to deal with this in the safest way possible and try to identify this person. Could this be our suspect? Possibly, Luna said.

In response to a question, Luna said that perhaps the man barricaded in the van was dead.

Members of the SWAT team entered the van some time later and reviewed its contents before leaving. It was not clear what they found.

Authorities said on Sunday they knew the suspect’s name, but declined to name him because it could make his arrest more difficult. But they posted a photo showing an Asian man wearing glasses and a winter hat.

The sheriff declined to say what weapons were found at the Alhambra. He said investigators believe the gun used in Monterey Park was not an assault rifle.

This massacre was the fifth massacre in the country this month. It also became the deadliest attack since May 24, when 21 people were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Monterey Park is a city of approximately 60,000 people on the eastern edge of Los Angeles populated mostly by Asian immigrants from China or first-generation Asian Americans. The shooting took place in the heart of the city, where red lanterns decorated the streets in honor of the Lunar New Year celebration. The police car was parked near a large banner reading “Happy Year of the Rabbit!”

The celebration in Monterey Park is one of the largest in California. Two days of festivities were planned, attended by up to 100,000 people in previous years. But officials canceled Sunday events because of the shooting.

Tony Lai, 35, from Monterey Park, was stunned when he went out for a morning walk and found out that the sounds he heard at night were gunshots.

“I thought maybe it was fireworks. I thought maybe it had something to do with the Lunar New Year,” he said. “And we don’t even have a lot of fireworks here. It’s strange to see this. It’s really safe here. We are right in the center of the city, but it’s really safe.”

Wynn Liau, 57, who lives about two blocks from Monterey Park Studios, said she was shocked that such a crime could happen, especially around New Year’s Eve.

“The Chinese consider Chinese New Year to be very, very special,” a time when “you don’t do anything that brings bad luck for the whole year,” she said.

She photographed the scene outside the studio to send to relatives and friends in China, “to let them know how crazy the US is going with all these mass shootings, even on New Year’s Day.”

The Associated Press/USA Today database of US massacres shows that 2022 was one of the country’s worst years, with 42 such attacks, the second-highest number since the tracker’s inception in 2006. The database lists the massacres as four. people are killed, not counting the perpetrator.

The latest violence came two months after five people were killed at a Colorado Springs nightclub.

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President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have been briefed on the situation, aides said.

The shooting took place at the Star Ballroom, a few blocks from City Hall on Monterey Park’s main street, Garvey Avenue, dotted with small business malls with signs written in English and Chinese. Cantonese and Mandarin are widely spoken, Chinese holidays are celebrated, and Chinese films are regularly shown in the city.

The company offered dance lessons from tango to rumba and foxtrot, and also rented a venue for events. On Saturday, according to its website, from 20:00 to 23:30, an event called “Starry Night” was held here.