The suspect shot himself after killing 10 people at a dance club in the Los Angeles area.
Authorities are searching for what motivated the gunman who killed 10 people at a Los Angeles-area dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday evening.
The suspect was found dead on Sunday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a van in which authorities say he fled after people thwarted his attempt at a second shooting.
The shooting 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.
Here is what we know about the shooting so far:
What happened and when?
- A gunman shot dead 10 people late on Saturday at a ballroom dance club in Monterey Park during a Lunar New Year celebration in the Los Angeles area, United States.
- Police said people were “pouring out of the location screaming” when officers arrived at the venue at about 10:30pm (06:30 GMT Sunday).
- Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said officers arrived at the scene within three minutes of receiving the call.
- About 20 to 30 minutes after the first attack, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in the nearby city of Alhambra. But patrons wrested the weapon away from him and witnesses said he fled in a white van, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
Where did the shooting happen?
- The mass shooting occurred at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio on Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park, a majority Asian American city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles.
- The shooting happened in the heart of its downtown where red lanterns decorated the streets for the Lunar New Year festivities.
Who is the suspect?
- Police identified the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran and said he shot himself as police approached the van he was in, in the town of Torrance, 12 hours after the shooting took place. Torrance lies southwest of Monterey Park and is also home to many Asian Americans.
- Luna told reporters that no other suspects were at large and that the motive behind the attack remained unclear.
- The suspect was carrying what Luna described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second handgun was discovered in the van where Tran died.
How many people died and were injured?
- Police said 10 people – five men and five women – died at the scene, while 10 others were wounded, seven of whom are still hospitalised. Luna said their conditions range “from stable to critical”.
Who are the victims?
- Speaking at a Sunday evening news conference, the sheriff said he didn’t have their exact ages but that all of the people killed appeared to be over 50. Their identities have not been made public.