The person suspected of killing several people at a dance studio in Southern California on Saturday night shot himself in the head on Sunday morning.
The attack killed at least ten people and injured at least ten. It is still being looked into, law enforcement officials told the press on Sunday evening. The shooter has been named Huu Can Tran, a 72-year-old Asian man.
Photo of 72-year-old Monterey Park shooting suspect, Huu Can Tran, who is now dead. pic.twitter.com/XgeRyPLBww
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) January 23, 2023
The shooting took place in Monterey Park, California, just outside Los Angeles. Made up mostly of Asian Americans, it was once called the “first suburban Chinatown.”
Authorities said after the gunman opened fire on one dance studio, he appeared to have gone to a second in nearby Alhambra, California, which is also largely made up of Asian Americans. Two people were able to take his gun from him and he ran away.
At a press conference on Sunday, Sheriff Robert Luna and other local leaders praised the bravery of the two community members who took the suspect’s gun at the second scene and may have prevented another tragedy. Luna said, “This could have been much worse.”
For up-to-date information, here’s some coverage of shootings over the past few days:
U.S. Congresswoman for Monterey Park, Judy Chu, told people in the area: “You are no longer in danger.” She also said it was still unclear why two dance studios in the area were targeted.
“What was the motive for this shooting?” Chu asked. Was he an abuser of domestic violence? How did he get these weapons? Was it by legal means or not? Those questions will have to be answered in the future.”
So far, only two weapons have been officially identified. One is a pistol with a large magazine that allows the shooter to fire more shots without stopping to reload. Luna said the gun found at Alhambra was a magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol with a high-capacity magazine. This type of gun may be against California law.
BREAKING NEWS: Monterey Park mass shooting suspect is 72-year-old Asian man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; motive remains unclear, says sheriff. https://t.co/MPjgQRmzjX pic.twitter.com/RRnWMhOdSx
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 23, 2023
Luna said another gun was found this morning in the white van where the suspect was found. On Sunday afternoon, SWAT cars and other police vehicles surrounded the van for a few hours before officers entered. Local TV news cameras showed it all live.
Five men and five women were killed in the dance studio and ten other people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, law enforcement officials said.
Dance teachers at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park told news outlets that most of the studio’s clients were Asian Americans over the age of 50. Luna said the coroner’s office was still trying to identify the dead, but it seemed like many of them were in their fifties and sixties.
The brutal attack in the middle of the city came during a celebration of the Lunar New Year, a holiday for billions of Asians and Asians living in other parts of the world.
The shooting was the deadliest in months and came after years of concern for Asian Americans in the US. Since right-wing politicians, including Donald Trump, dubbed Covid-19 the “China virus,” hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased.
A report from Stop AAPI Hate says that between March 2020, when the first Covid lockdowns were put in place, and March 2022, there were more than 11,400 hate crimes against Asian Americans in the US. California has the most Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of any state in the US, and it also had the most hate crimes.
A separate study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that hate crimes against Asian Americans nationwide will increase 39% in 2021 compared to 2020.
Henry Lo, the mayor of Monterey Park, said the shooter’s death was “justice,” but he also said the healing process was “just beginning.”
“Our priority is to make sure those victims, their relatives, get the help they need to heal and overcome their trauma,” Lo said, referring to what he expects “a long healing process as a community.”
The man believed to be involved in the Monterey Park shooting was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A 72-year-old Asian man named Huu Can Tran has been officially named the shooter.
The attack, which killed at least 10 people and injured at least 10, is still under investigation… What do you think of the steadily rising number of shootings in recent years? Share your thoughts below.
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