Eleven people were killed and at least nine. Others injured during the Lunar New Year festival gathering.
A California mass shooting suspect had many firearms. Possibly illegal gun modifications. And so many rounds of ammunition. That authorities were unable to keep tabs, the Los Angeles County sheriff said Monday.
The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After a police traffic stop of the van he was driving in Torrance. About 28 miles from the Monterey Park shooting scene, officials said.
A search of his house in Hemet turned up a .308 caliber rifle, evidence that the suspect may have a gun suppressor. Which is illegal in California, and a large amount of ammunition. Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday afternoon.
Luna described hundreds of rounds of .308 caliber and 9 mm as “loose ammunition.” There were so many, he said, that investigators couldn’t immediately come up with a count.
The suspect, identified as Huu Can Tran (72), had a Norinco handgun in the van. Luna said the weapon used in the mass shooting was a modified semi-automatic. 9mm MAC-10, named after its original manufacturer, Military Armaments Corporation.
The compact gun was named in California’s landmark assault. Weapons ban of 1989 as well as the federal assault weapons ban of 1994, which expired 10 years later. There are sellers of MAC-10 variants and clones. Who say their weapons are California-legal.
Luna said Sunday that he believed the gun linked to the suspect was illegal in California. But he did not say much Monday other than to describe the firearm as an “assault weapon.” The exact motive behind Saturday night’s mass shooting in Monterey Park was a matter of fact. of the investigation, but law enforcement officials said Monday. That it appears to be personal.
Many law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said evidence collected. So far appears to rule out terrorism or a hate crime in the dance hall attack that left 11 dead and nine injured.
They stressed that it’s still early in the investigation. And they’re working on a timeline of events and discovering more. About the suspect’s background — material that could help. Them find a more specific motive.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators are still processing. Evidence found at the home of suspect Hu Can Tran, 72, in Hemet, Calif., about 86 miles southeast of Monterey Park.
Police in Torrance were also looking at evidence. From the van where he died Sunday afternoon after a traffic stop. The man credited by authorities with disarming the Monterey Park mass. Shooter coldly described a gunman who scanned a second dance hall for more victims.
Speaking to “TTN Nightly News with Lester Holt.” For Monday night’s broadcast, Brandon Tess, 26. Said he thought the man’s silence Saturday night at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio. 2 miles north of the deadly attack in Monterey Park, was strange. Tsay did not know at the time that the suspect, later identified as Huu. Can Tran, 72, had shot 20 people at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, an attack that killed 11, authorities said.
“That was the scary part,” Tsay told Holt when asked if the man had spoken. “When he came in, he didn’t say anything. His face was very still. His expressions were mostly in his eyes. Trying to find people around, trying to scout the area for other people.”
Tsay is a computer coder who runs a nearby ballroom with relatives, according to the New York Times. He said he thought his death was confirmed when he saw the man. Then he saw an opening, Tsay said.
He said the man began to “prepare” his weapon, apparently for more blood. The man’s attention was focused away from Tsay and others in the venue.
“Something amazing happened,” he said, describing the man as confused. “A miracle indeed. It seemed to me that this was the moment to disarm him.” The city of Monterey Park will host a vigil at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. PT Tuesday, it said in a statement on Monday.
The city said the vigil “will be a place to honor those who have left us and give strength to those who live.”
A memorial to the victims has also been erected at Monterey Park City Hall.
“We believe it is important for our community to remember. And come together to heal,” Mayor Henry Lowe said in a statement.
A resource center has been established. At the Langley Senior Center at 400 W. Emerson Ave. to assist survivors. And community members, according to information from the city.
Another vigil is planned for Wednesday night at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio – the site of the massacre. Hosted by a local organization dedicated to ending anti-Asian violence. The 72-year-old Monterey Park shooting suspect turned. Himself in to two local police stations this month to file decades. Old allegations against his family, Hemet police said in a statement Monday afternoon.
