LOS ANGELES – As grieving families receive news of the loss of a loved one in a massacre at a popular discotheque, investigators on Monday are looking into the shooter’s background and whether he could be charged. motivated by personal hatred when shooting 20 people, including 11 people or not. death, at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, Calif., on Saturday night.
The suspect was found dead by suicide in a white van Sunday after a lengthy manhunt across Southern California. Here’s what we know about him.
He is 72 years old, divorced and naturalized in the United States.
Authorities identified the suspect on Sunday as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. An immigration document shows Mr. Tran was born in Vietnam and property records show he likely immigrated to the US in the late 1980s. He became a US citizen in 1990 or 1991, according to immigration documents. Court records say he married in June 2001 and divorced in May 2006.
He tried to strike a second time but was thwarted, police said.
Authorities said, after carrying out the massacre at the Star Ballroom, the gunman went to another dance venue, Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the neighboring city of Alhambra.
When he entered, he was confronted by Brandon Tsay, whose family owned the ballroom. Mr Tsay said he wrestled with the gunman and disarmed him. The gunman then fled.
“He was looking at me and looking around, not hiding that he was trying to do harm,” Mr Tsay said in an interview at his home in San Marino on Sunday night. “His eyes were menacing.”
Investigators are focusing on whether he is looking for specific people.
Authorities have not publicly identified a motive in the attack. But when investigators interviewed witnesses on Monday, they focused on the theory that the attack was personally motivated and that the suspect had arrived on the set with specific goals in mind, according to an official. Law enforcement has informed about the matter. Detectives think he may have been “looking for specific people for a specific reason,” the official said.
According to the official, the suspect may have known some of the 11 people he killed, while others may have been shot at random.
Investigators are also looking to determine whether the suspect may have gone to the second ballroom looking for people he couldn’t find the first time around, the official said. The two studios attract the same group of dance-enthusiasts, and investigators believe several people visited both locations on Saturday night.
