Death toll from California massacre rises to 11 as police look for motive By Reuters

By Tim Reid and Wealthy McKay

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (Reuters) -An eleventh sufferer died from accidents on Monday after an aged gunman’s lethal rampage at a Los Angeles-area dance corridor, California police stated, as authorities had been nonetheless looking for a motive behind one of many state’s worst mass shootings.

Police recognized 72-year-old Huu Can Tran because the suspect within the bloodbath, which came about throughout a Lunar New Yr celebration at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, a dance corridor fashionable with older patrons of Asian descent.

Tran allegedly killed 10 folks on Saturday night time and wounded 10 others, then traveled to a different dance corridor the place his assault was thwarted. He later fatally shot himself. An eleventh particular person had died on Monday from accidents sustained throughout the capturing, Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese informed reporters.

Tran, whom a former tenant described to Reuters as “indignant and distrustful,” killed 10 folks between the ages of fifty and 80 and wounded 10 others, police stated.

On Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated “all the things is on the desk” by way of figuring out the explanations for the capturing.

Officers in Hemet, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, had been aiding the county Sheriff’s Division in a search of Tran’s cellular residence in a gated senior dwelling neighborhood, stated Alan Reyes, spokesperson for the Hemet Police Division.

The search started at round 8:30 p.m. Sunday and continued on Monday, Reyes stated, including that Tran had not been identified to Hemet police.

Tran had an energetic trucking license and had owned an organization known as Tran’s Trucking Inc with a put up workplace field handle in Monterey Park, in line with on-line information. He had lived within the Los Angeles space since no less than the Nineties and moved to the cellular residence in Hemet in 2020, handle information confirmed.

Adam Hood, a longtime tenant of the alleged gunman at a property within the Los Angeles space, informed Reuters Tran was an aggressive and suspicious one that had few mates. However he appreciated ballroom dancing, largely his solely social exercise.

Hood stated Tran complained that individuals on the Star Ballroom studio had been speaking behind his again.

“He was a superb dancer for my part,” Hood stated. “However he was distrustful of the folks on the studio, indignant and distrustful. I believe he simply had sufficient.”

TRAGEDY AND A CHASE

Tran’s rampage may have been worse. About 20 minutes after the capturing in Monterey Park, he entered the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio dance membership within the neighboring metropolis of Alhambra. There, Brandon Tsay, who operates the family-run dance corridor, wrestled a weapon away from the shooter earlier than he may get a shot off.

“That second, it was primal intuition,” Tsay informed the New York Occasions, saying that the gunman fled the scene after a 90-second battle. “One thing occurred there. I don’t know what came to visit me.”

About 12 hours later, law enforcement officials in Torrance, 20 miles southwest of Monterey Park, cornered a white cargo van that Tran was driving. As officers neared the van, they heard a single gun shot from inside as Tran killed himself.

Authorities haven’t but launched names of all of the victims, pending notification of their households, however all had been between 50 and 80 years previous. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Workplace stated two girls, My Nhan, 65, and Lilan Li, 63, had been among the many lifeless. ABC Information recognized one of many deceased as dance teacher Ming Wei Ma.

A candlelight vigil was scheduled for Monday night at Monterey Park’s Metropolis Corridor to honor the victims.

Luna stated the pistol that Tran used was possible unlawful in California, having {a magazine} whose capability exceeded the state restrict of 10 rounds.

The capturing came about throughout a two-day Chinese language Lunar New Yr celebration in Monterey Park, which attracts 1000’s of individuals from throughout Southern California.

As information in regards to the capturing unfold, some within the tight-knit neighborhood of Monterey Park initially feared it was a hate crime focusing on Asians. The town of 60,000 folks has for many years been a vacation spot for immigrants from China. Round 65% of its residents are Asian, in line with U.S. Census information. 

On the entrance to the Star Dance studio on Monday, residents left flowers, fruit and candles to honor the lifeless.

Yashin Wang, 65, sat at a bus cease near the crime scene on Monday. He stated he had moved to Monterey Park from Dallas, Texas, two years in the past as a result of he had been informed what a peaceable and pleasant place town was.

“It was good,” he stated.

Wang stated he deliberate to remain, however the bloodbath had saddened him and shaken his notion of his residence.