Monterey Park shooting suspect is dead, sheriff says

Updated January 22, 2023 at 8:26 PM ET

The gunman suspected of killing 10 people and wounding 10 others in a shooting Saturday night in Monterey Park, a city east of Los Angeles, is dead, officials said.

The shooting was reported around 10:22 p.m. local time inside a Chinese-owned ballroom dance studio near a Lunar New Year celebration. Local authorities described the suspect as an adult Asian male.

By late morning Sunday, police vehicles had converged around a white van in Torrance, Calif. Law enforcement officers were seen breaching the van and removing its contents during the afternoon.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna later confirmed the suspected gunman was found dead inside the van from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Law enforcement vehicles had surrounded the van for more than an hour before breaking into it.

Luna named the suspect as Huu Can Tran, age 72.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images

/

AFP via Getty Images

Police are investigating two incidents

Local police arrived at the Monterey Park shooting scene to find "individuals pouring out of the location," LA County Sheriff's Department's Captain Andrew Meyer said in a news conference on Sunday early morning.

Five of the people killed were women and five were men, Luna said. At least 10 other people who suffered injuries were taken to area hospitals with conditions ranging from stable to critical.

Police are also investigating a second incident at a dance hall in Alhambra, about two miles north of Monterey Park. Within about 20-30 minutes after the mass shooting, Luna said, a gunman walked into the Alhambra hall. A group of people there wrestled a gun away from an Asian male suspect, the sheriff said.

Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

/

AFP via Getty Images

The two incidents are believed to involve the same person, he said. The sheriff's office released photos of the suspect, showing a man wearing a black leather jacket, glasses and a beanie. He is described as 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds.

The gun used in the shooting is "not a high-powered assault weapon," Luna said, but did not give further details due to the possibility that multiple weapons could be involved, he said.

Meyer did not give further details about the shooter or possible motive. He added that it was unclear whether the shooting was a targeted hate crime.

The FBI and state authorities are also involved in the investigation.

Over 59,000 people live in Monterey Park, 65 percent of whom identify as Asian, according to the Census Bureau.

The deadly attack occurred on West Garvey Avenueat the end of the first day of a two-day street festival to celebrate Lunar New Year. The event, which began on the eve of Chinese New Year, is one of the largest free street fairs in Southern California, typically drawing crowds of over 100,000 visitors and over a hundred food vendors, performances and merchants.

Monterey Park Police said the second day of the festival had been canceled because of the shooting. Still, Sheriff Luna said it was safe for people to attend New Year festivities in the area following the shooting — which Luna said "has no relation to the Chinese New Year event earlier in the day."

President Biden has been briefed on the shooting. "Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night's deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park," he said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the incident "a horrific and heartless act of gun violence," and that he's closely monitoring the situation.

The attack was at least the 33rd mass shooting in the country this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, and the second in California in less than a week.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.