Who was Huu Can Tran? Monterey Park shooting suspect, 72, died of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA: A gunman killed 10 people, five women and five men, and wounded 10 others at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio following a Lunar New Year celebration around 10.20 pm on Saturday, January 21, setting off hours long manhunt for the suspect that led officers to a white cargo van in Torrance, about 25 miles southwest of Monterey Park. However, the apparent suspect was found dead inside the van by the SWAT team.
A bomb squad and a hazmat team were on the scene due to concerns that the van may have explosives. According to Homicide Capt Andrew Meyer it was not clear what the motive was. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said, as quoted by KTLA, "Everything is on the table. We don’t know if this a hate crime as defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people?" The sheriff's office released a photo of the suspect describing him as an Asian man between 30 and 50 years old, about 5-feet-10 inches tall and 150 pounds, and seen wearing a black leather jacket, a beanie and glasses. The suspect's name was being withheld, reports NBC.
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On Saturday January 21, 2023 at 10:22 PM the suspect male/adult/Asian pictured above was involved in a shooting. Investigators have identified him as a Homicide suspect and he should be considered armed and dangerous.
— Robert Luna (@LACoSheriff) January 22, 2023
Contact LASD Homicide with any information at 323-890-5000. pic.twitter.com/2gPUBBybvv
Who was the suspect?
The suspect has been identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. While law enforcement officials released the images of the suspect, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the LA County sheriff initially declined to publicly name him at a news conference on Sunday afternoon, January 22, as he said, "It is a priority to apprehend this person. And we have a lot of resources throughout this entire region, and we believe if we are putting his name out, that will inhibit our ability to potentially arrest the suspect if he's out there — or maybe flee. Please be patient with us. We're going to keep our word that we're going to continuously update you. Because the community, I understand, they're thirsty for information," as stated by CNN.
However, in a later news conference on January 22, the sheriff identified the suspect as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, as per ABC. Though images of Tran were released, the sheriff didn’t rule out the possibility of multiple suspects and multiple weapons. He said that he wouldn’t share specifics about a weapon seized at the scene but said it was “not a high-powered assault rifle.” “Just like I’m saying there may be more suspects — we think there’s one, there may be more — we have to assume there may be more than one weapon, right? We may have recovered one. When we find him, that doesn’t mean he’s not armed and dangerous," he added, The Hill reported.
Tran, a Chinese Immigrant, had previously frequented the dance hall, and it is where he met his ex-wife, who told CNN anonymously that he “gave informal lessons” there. The two married soon after they met. She said he was never violent but claimed he would get angry quickly. The ex-wife said if she “missed a step dancing”, he would get upset because that made him look bad.
In late 2005, Tran filed for divorce, and a judge approved the divorce the following year, Los Angeles court records show. US Rep Judy Chu during a news conference said, as stated by Los Angeles Times, “I still have questions in my mind, which is, what was the motive for this shooter? Did he have a mental illness? Was he a domestic violence abuser? How did he get these guns, and was it through legal means? Well, those questions will have to be answered in the future."