22 January 2023 , 23:46
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The Monterey Park gunman who killed 10 people in a mass shooting in California killed himself as police closed in on his van.
Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol on Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park in California killing 10 people and wounding 10 more during Lunar New Year celebrations.
Tran, who taught at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio almost every night in the early 2000s, was "hostile to a lot of people" at the studio and believed they said "evil things about him", according to his friends.
The gunman also married a student at the studio after he offered her free dance lessons with the pair tying the knot soon after.
However, they soon divorced after the woman, who has not been identified, claimed Tran became angry when she would mess up their choreography, according to CNN.
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Tran intended to kill more people but two heroes stopped him from continuing his murder spree and disarmed him.
Huu Can Tran, 72, used to teach at the dance studio
Huu Can Tran, 72, killed himself during a standoff with policeArmed officers surrounded the suspect's van in a shopping centre car park just as one gunshot was heard.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said officers had located the white van which had been a vehicle of interest following an attempted second shooting.
A handgun was recovered by investigators at the scene.
The sheriff said he didn't have their exact ages but all of the people killed appeared to be over 50. Seven people remain in hospital.
He said the investigation was ongoing although the motives of the suspect remain unclear.
Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said Sunday evening that within three minutes of receiving the call, officers arrived at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park.
There, they found carnage inside and people trying to flee through all the doors.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the suspect as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran (Damian Dovarganes/AP/REX/Shutterstock)He said: "When they came into the parking lot it, was chaos."
About 20 to 30 minutes after the first attack, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in the nearby city of Alhambra.
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People wrested the weapon away from him and witnesses said he fled in a white van, according to Sheriff Luna.
The van was found in Torrance about 22 miles from the second location.
A body is slumped over in the driver's seat of a van in Torrance (AFP via Getty Images)After surrounding the van for hours, law enforcement officials swarmed and entered the vehicle. A person's body appeared to be slumped over the wheel and was later removed. Members of a SWAT team looked through the van's contents before walking away.
The massacre 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.
Earlier today, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department released the first images of the suspect.
Sheriff Luna identified the suspect as 72-year-old male Huu Can Tran (KCal News)The shooting happened at Star Ballroom Dance Studio at about 10:22pm (6:22am UK time) on Saturday, police said.
Congresswoman Judy Chu said she still has questions about the attack but hopes residents now feel safe.
She said: "The community was in fear thinking that they should not go to any events because there was an active shooter.
"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?"
Chinese Chamber of Commerce leader Chester Chong told ABC7 that he believed the shooting was related to a domestic dispute and not a hate crime.
Mr Chong told local news that he heard through friends who were at the event that a woman was invited to the event and not her husband, which reportedly made him upset.
A forensics official takes pictures of the van (AFP via Getty Images)The celebration in Monterey Park is one of California's largest. Two days of festivities, which have been attended by as many as 100,000 people in past years, were planned. But officials canceled Sunday's events following the shooting.
Tony Lai, 35, of Monterey Park was stunned when he came out for his early morning walk to learn that the noises he heard in the night were gunshots.
"I thought maybe it was fireworks. I thought maybe it had something to do with Lunar New Year," he said. "And we don't even get a lot of fireworks here. It's weird to see this. It's really safe here. We're right in the middle of the city, but it's really safe."
Wynn Liaw, 57, who lives about two blocks from the Monterey Park studio, said she was shocked that such a crime would happen, especially during Lunar New Year's celebrations.
Police entered the white vanShe said: "Chinese people, they consider Chinese New Year very, very special" - a time when "you don't do anything that will bring bad luck the entire year."
Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told The Los Angeles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.
The people said to Choi that there was a shooter with a gun who had multiple rounds of ammunition on him.
Investigators go through a white van (CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Wong Wei, who lives nearby, said his friend was in a bathroom at the dance studio when the shooting started. When she came out, he said, she saw a gunman and three bodies.
US President Joe Biden tweeted that he and First Lady Jill Biden were “praying for those killed and injured.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the shooting “absolutely devastating.”
She said: "As investigations determine whether these murders were motivated by Asian hate, we continue to stand united against all attempts to divide us."