The gunman accused of killing 10 people in a mass shooting in Los Angeles' Monterey Park on Sunday, 22 January, was found dead in a white van after shooting himself with his firearm, local authorities have said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the assailant as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, an Asian American, and said that the motive behind the shooting was not yet clear.
The police said that Tran was armed with a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine. Apart from this, another handgun was found in the van where he was found dead, located around 35 kilometres away from the shooting site.
The shooting incident had taken place in a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, where thousands of Asian Americans had gathered to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Who Was Huu Can Tran?
Tran was said to have been a frequent visitor at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the shooting took place, and even used to give informal lessons there, his ex-wife told CNN.
His former wife, who asked not to be named, said that she had met Tran around 20 years ago at the ballroom itself – which was a popular gathering place for the Asian American community in Monterey Park.
She said that Tran was impressed with her dance moves, and offered to give her free lessons. The two got married soon after that.
She also underlined that Tran always had a violent streak about him. While he was never violent towards her, she said that he would get upset if she missed a step while dancing as he thought that it made him look bad.
Tran filed for divorce from his wife in 2005, and it was approved the following year.
'He Used To Visit the Studio Almost Every Night'
Another long-time acquaintance said that Tran would visit the ballroom dance studio "almost every night" and lived just five minutes away from the studio in San Gabriel Valley.
He often used to complain that the instructors at the studio did not like him and said "evil things about him," the acquaintance said on the condition of anonymity, adding that Tran was "hostile to a lot of people there."
He further added that he had not seen Tran for many years and was "totally shocked" when he got to know about the shooting.
Apart from teaching dancing at the studio, the suspect worked as a truck driver and had a registered business called Tran's Trucking Inc. from 2002-2004, CNN reported.
The Star Ballroom Dance Studio was the gunman's first stop, after which he went to the Lai Lai Ballroom near Alhambra with the alleged intention to kill more people. However, patrons fought him off and snatched his gun.
He then managed to flee the scene and was later found dead on Sunday by law enforcement officials in his van.
"He (the assailant) intended to kill more people," the police said in a press conference on Sunday night, adding, "This could've been much worse."
"The patrons near the Lai Lai Ballroom saved lives," the police added.
The mass shooting is the country's fifth in 2023 alone, and the deadliest since the shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022, when 21 people were shot dead inside an elementary school.
(With inputs from CNN and The Independent.)
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