The hunt for the gunman that killed ten people at a ballroom dance club during Lunar New Year on Sunday ended when authorities found him dead inside his getaway van. According to police, it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. Luna added there are no other suspects at large, and the motive of the crime remained unclear.
The incident injured ten more, with seven people still in the hospital.
The sheriff said the suspect was carrying a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine. A second handgun was found in the van where Tran was found dead.
The shooting that occurred late Saturday in the Asian American community of Monterey Park ended the New Year festivities.
Also speaking at the news conference, Congresswoman Judy Chu said she still has questions about the attack but hopes residents now feel safe.
“The community was in fear thinking that they should not go to any events because there was an active shooter,” Chu said, adding, “You are no longer in danger.”
“What was the motive for this shooter?” she said. “Did he have a mental illness? Was he a domestic violence abuser? How did he gets these guns and was it through legal means or not?”
On Sunday, law enforcement officials entered the van after surrounding it for hours. A person’s body appeared to be slumped over the wheel.
Luna previously released photos of an Asian man who was believed to be the suspect.
The van was found in Torrance, another community home to many Asian Americans, about 22 miles (34.5 kilometers) from that second location.
Luna said the shooting was at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park.
According to Park Police Chief Scott Wiese, police received a call Sunday evening and immediately dispatched officers to the scene. They found carnage inside and people trying to flee from the area.
“When they came into the parking lot it, was chaos,” Wiese said.
About 20 to 30 minutes after the first attack, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom near Alhambra. But the people managed to take his weapon away before he fled.
