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Monterey Massacre: Cops believe Huu Can Tran hit Alhambra after Monterey Park shooting

Bystanders had wrestled a gun away from a man at a dance hall in Alhambra just less than 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting

BY SUMANTI SEN

UPDATED JAN 23, 2023

Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire at a dance studio on Saturday night, January 21, killing 10 people (@LACoSheriff/Twitter)

ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA: Bystanders had wrestled a gun away from a man at a dance hall in Alhambra just less than 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, leading investigators to suspect the same man may have hit the second spot. Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire at a dance studio on Saturday night, January 21, killing 10 people and injuring at least 10 others. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police standoff.

"We believe it is (the same)," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, according to CNN. "I'm not confirming it 100%. Because again we still have to put this whole thing together. ... We believe that they are both connected." The incident in Alhambra was reported about 17-20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting.

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At the Alhambra ballroom, a "male Asian suspect walked in with a firearm and some individuals wrestled the firearm away," Luna said. The man fled the scene and witnesses later reported seeing a white cargo van in the area. However, nobody was injured in the Alhambra incident.

SWAT officers were involved in an hours-long standoff at the scene of the white cargo van before Tran died. Authorities asked the occupant to leave the van and heard a sound shortly after as he shot himself dead. Investigators searched the van after Tran was found dead and reportedly found “several pieces of evidence” to link him to both the Monterey Park and Alhambra incidents. A handgun was also found inside the van. Cops are now working to determine a motive behind the attack.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. To provide information anonymously, one can call Crime Stoppers by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477).