MONTEREY PARK, Calif. ( Associated Press) — The 72-year-old man who shot 11 people at a Southern California dance hall was unrelated to the victims and investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the massacre, police said. .
Before Saturday night’s shooting, Hu Can Tran parked a motorcycle just a block away from the ballroom in Monterey Park, the Los Angeles County police chief said, which investigators believe he used to make an escape. It was planned to be used as a backup vehicle. The police seized the motorcycle after the press conference on Wednesday.
According to authorities, Tran opened fire on a crowd of mostly elderly dancers at the Star Ballroom dance studio, killing 11 people and injuring nine.
The massacre during Lunar New Year celebrations sent waves of fear among Asian-American communities already facing growing hatred and violence.
According to some reports, Tran frequented the ballroom and claimed to be an instructor, but Luna said he had not been there in at least five years. “We have not yet been able to establish a connection between the suspect and any of the victims,” the police command said.
About 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, Tran entered another dance hall in the Alhambra, 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) away, where an employee confronted her and confiscated her weapon, a type of submachine gun. – Round magazine. Finally, Tran shot himself in the van where his body was found on Sunday morning.
Tran, who was of Vietnamese descent and lived in Hong Kong, had been in the United States for seven or eight years. He bought the submachine gun in Monterey Park in 1999, but it was not registered in California; The weapon and high-capacity magazine are illegal in the state.
Luna said Tran committed suicide with a registered semi-automatic pistol, and a registered bolt-action rifle was found at his home in Hemet, about 70 miles from Monterey Park. His only known criminal history was an arrest in 1990 for illegal possession of a firearm, but there was no indication of a conviction.
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Melley reported from Los Angeles and Julie Watson from San Diego.
