CA - Multiple Deaths In Mass Shootings At Two Dance Studios in Monterey Park By Gunman Huu Can Tran, Jan 2023

[Seattle1]

Jealousy possible suspect motive in Monterey Park mass shooting, says community leader

Community leader Chester Chong told ABC7 that he believes a domestic dispute may be a possible motive for the mass shooting that occurred Saturday night at a dance studio in Monterey Park.

abc7.com

Jan 22, 2023

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (KABC) -- As the investigation continues into the mass shooting that occurred at a Monterey Park dance studio late Saturday night, a prominent member of the community with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce believes the suspect's possible motive may be related to a domestic dispute.

Community leader Chester Chong told ABC7 that the owner of the dance studio on West Garvey Avenue was holding an event there on Saturday. Through talking with friends that were in attendance and other local leaders, he said a woman was invited to the event but not her husband, which made him upset. Chong said he believes that woman's husband is the suspect in this case and jealousy may be a possible motive for the shooting.

According to Chong, it wasn't uncommon for the owner of the dance studio to hold these types of events and only invite certain people. He said people got upset all the time about not being able to attend the events.

[;;]

During a press conference Sunday morning, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna described the suspect as an Asian male between 30 to 50 years old, based on preliminary information. A more detailed description was not available. The suspect remains on the loose.

[;;]

Luna said five women and five men are among the deceased victims. Those victims have not been identified yet.

 

[Seattle1]

Lunar New Year shooting: How authorities found the suspected gunman

Authorities said 72-year-old Huu Can Tran died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

www.q13fox.com

1/22/23

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. - California authorities have identified the suspected gunman in a mass shooting as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna made the announcement Sunday evening. He said Tran was found dead inside a white van from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities also recovered a handgun from the vehicle.

['..]

On Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officials swarmed and entered a white van. Hours earlier, Luna said authorities were looking for a white van after witnesses reported seeing the suspect flee in such a vehicle.

[..]

Luna said the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park left five women and five men dead and wounded another 10 people. Then 20 to 30 minutes later, a man with a gun entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra.

Authorities believe the two events are connected. They offered no details about a possible motive.

 

[Seattle1]

“Tran had once been a regular of the Southern California dance studio where he opened fire and even met his ex-wife there, three people who knew him told CNN.

His ex-wife, who did not want her name to be revealed, told CNN that she had met Tran about two decades ago at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where he gave informal lessons.

^^rsbm

Community leader Chester Chong told ABC7 that the owner of the dance studio on West Garvey Avenue was holding an event there on Saturday. Through talking with friends that were in attendance and other local leaders, he said a woman was invited to the event but not her husband, which made him upset. Chong said he believes that woman's husband is the suspect in this case and jealousy may be a possible motive for the shooting.

According to Chong, it wasn't uncommon for the owner of the dance studio to hold these types of events and only invite certain people. He said people got upset all the time about not being able to attend the events.

^^rsbm

This is a very sad situation and may have been a preventable incident.

It seems to me the shooter, a regular at the dance studio for at least two decades, was dissed by the owner that invited his wife to the party but intentionally neglected to extend an invitation to the husband. <modsnip - rumor>

There is no bigger and/or more important celebration here than Chinese New Year!

<modsnip - no link/rumor> MOO

 

[Seattle1]

Monterey mass shooter may have received medical treatment

Huu Can Tran, 72, may have went to the hospital after killing 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey, California.

www.dailymail.co.uk

1/22/23

Authorities had been on the lookout for the white cargo van after witnesses reported seeing the suspect fleeing Alhambra. No one was killed at that scene.

A short time after Tran was spotted at the hospital, police pulled over the van which led to the three-hour standoff.

By midday, police in tactical vehicles and bomb-squad trucks surrounded a white van in a parking lot 22 miles from Alhambra in Torrance, another majority Asian community.

It ended as police approached the vehicle and heard a gunshot. Tran was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Tran's friends, who were close to the gunman from around the early 2010s, revealed to CNN after the shooting that he was 'hostile to a lot of people' at the studio where he taught and believed they said 'evil things about him.'

Tran taught lessons at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio almost every night in the early 2000s when he lived five minutes away in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

[whitelilac]

I find it interesting that he went to the ER for minor injuries considering he was going to kill himself. That implies to me he was mentally unstable in the way of having a well thought out plan.

‘ER or end my life’ is an extreme form of decision making. They are opposites.

I'm not sure he planned to kill himself. I think it possible he only killed himself when he was cornered.

But I do agree the man was mentally unstable.

 

[whitelilac]

^^rsbm

This is a very sad situation and may have been a preventable incident.

It seems to me the shooter, a regular at the dance studio for at least two decades, was dissed by the owner that invited his wife to the party but intentionally neglected to extend an invitation to the husband. <modsnip - rumor>

There is no bigger and/or more important celebration here than Chinese New Year!

<modsnip - no link/rumor> MOO

So if he was divorced in 2005, was he remarried ?
Or do they mean that his ex wife was invited but not him?

 

[Sarahlou]

So if he was divorced in 2005, was he remarried ?
Or do they mean that his ex wife was invited but not him?

<modsnip - no link>

Terrible crime, rest in peace to the victims.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

At around 10:22 p.m. local time on Saturday, a gunman opened fire inside of Star Dance Studio, Chinese-owned ballroom dance studio on West Garvey Avenue, less than a block from where a Lunar New Year festival was held. The first day of the two-day festival had just ended. The event, which officials said drew more than 100,000 attendees, was canceled after the shooting.

About a half hour after the attack, the same armed man went into another ballroom studio, Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio, in nearby Alhambra, a few miles away.

The suspect went to the second location with the "intent to kill more people," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, but two people successfully disarmed the suspect by wresting the weapon out of his hands.

The suspect was using what local authorities said was a magazine-fed assault-style pistol, of which Luna said he was unsure of its legal status in the state.

On Sunday at about 10:20 a.m., police saw a white cargo van in Torrance, Calif. The driver of the van pulled over and police surrounded it, then heard a single gunshot. Authorities retreated and returned at about 12:52 p.m. with backup, to find Tran inside, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Of the 10 people pronounced dead at the scene, five were women and five were men, officials said. The wounded victims were rushed to local hospitals, in conditions ranging from stable to critical. The victims are in their 50s and above.

What we know about the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

Authorities say they are searching for a motive for the deadly mass shooting that took place over the weekend in a city east of Los Angeles at the beginning of the Lunar New Year.

www.wsiu.org

 

[Dotta]

"The Monterey mass shooter who slaughtered 10 people and injured several others at a California dance hall may have gone to hospital after the bloody rampage."

Monterey mass shooter may have received medical treatment

Huu Can Tran, 72, may have went to the hospital after killing 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey, California.

www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[YaYa_521]

MOD REMINDER:

Just a friendly reminder before we get too far along.

Please keep the discussion focused on the details of this particular crime, its victims and the perpetrator.

DO NOT INTRODUCE GUN CONTROL/GUN CULTURE/POLITICAL COMMENTARY INTO THIS CASE DISCUSSION.

Discussions of this nature are prohibited on WS because they're never productive and always devolve into a mudslinging free-for-all. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, these topics are not within the focus of Websleuths' intended purpose which is primarily to bring attention to missing people and crime victims.

Thank you for contributing to this discussion and doing so in accordance with Websleuths' Rules.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Huu Can Tran, 72, 'taught lessons almost every night'

Huu Can Tran, 72, was once a dancer at the Monterey studio where he killed 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. He taught lessons in the early 2000s when he lived nearby.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[steeltowngirl]

So if he was divorced in 2005, was he remarried ?
Or do they mean that his ex wife was invited but not him?

Seems he wasn’t remarried, or at least not currently married.

Several law enforcement agencies executed the search warrant at Tran’s residence in the 5000 block of West Florida Avenue in a Hemet senior community Sunday night.

Pat Roth, a neighbor in the senior community, said Tran had lived there for about a year.

“Tran was just a nice guy. I mean, I’d see him riding his little, small motorcycle in and out, once in a while in his van,” Roth told Inland News. “He’d stop to pet your dog, and everybody around here just thought he was just some quiet, little guy. The people I’ve talked to are just stunned that he was involved in this. Pretty much lived alone, and I guess he taught dance or something, ballroom dance.”

Monterey Park gunman was making silencers, had stockpiled ammunition, sheriff says

The man accused of gunning down 11 people and wounding nine others in Monterey Park, California had been stockpiling ammunition and was making homemade gun silencers inside his home, authorities re…

ktla.com

 

[steeltowngirl]

^^rsbm

This is a very sad situation and may have been a preventable incident.

It seems to me the shooter, a regular at the dance studio for at least two decades, was dissed by the owner that invited his wife to the party but intentionally neglected to extend an invitation to the husband. <modsnip - rumor>

There is no bigger and/or more important celebration here than Chinese New Year!

<modsnip - no link/rumor> MOO

I wonder if it was his ex-wife that was invited? If so, and if she was a current regular, and Tran was not, it may be understandable why they wouldn’t have invited her (possibly mentally-unstable) ex-husband.

 

[Cryptic]

This is a very sad situation and may have been a preventable incident.

<modsnip - no link/rumor> MOO

Preventable? Not with out a crystal ball- and working crystal ball are in short supply

Trans seems to have been a high maintenance individual who might have just alienated one person too many at the dance hall to be invited to all events.

High maintenance people tend to get "dissed" (angered) fairly often by somebody, somehow, somewhere.

In short:

A. Not invite Tran and he might be "dissed".
B. Invite Tran and he might be "dissed" (sees ex dancing with another man, feels that he was not given lead male dancer honors, attractive woman refuses his second dance request etc. etc.)

Whether its scenario "A" or "B" or something in between, trying to forecast and prevent Tran from reaching for a gun might be pretty hard.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Monterey Park 'looking for answers' as police probe mass shooting

Eleven people were killed and 9 more were injured when a gunman opened fire at a dance hall as residents gathered for Lunar New Year celebrations.

www.nbcnews.com

The gunman in the deadly shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park that left 10 people dead and at least 10 others injured as they celebrated the Lunar New Year may have been targeting his ex-wife and may have had a "history of domestic violence," the city's mayor said Monday.

Speaking with NBC News' Kate Snow, Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo said he believed the ex-wife had been at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio when the shooter, identified by authorities as Huu Can Tran, opened fire at the dance hall.

He said there appeared to be a "history of domestic violence" and that it was possible the suspect had been targeting his ex-wife, but did not expand further...

 

[Sundog]

Preventable? Not with out a crystal ball- and working crystal ball are in short supply

Trans seems to have been a high maintenance individual who might have just alienated one person too many at the dance hall to be invited to all events.

High maintenance people tend to get "dissed" (angered) fairly often by somebody, somehow, somewhere.

In short:

A. Not invite Tran and he might be "dissed".
B. Invite Tran and he might be "dissed" (sees ex dancing with another man, feels that he was not given lead male dancer honors, attractive woman refuses his second dance request etc. etc.)

Whether its scenario "A" or "B" or something in between, trying to forecast and prevent Tran from reaching for a gun might be pretty hard.

Hemet is quite a ways from LA County/Monterey Park. Sounds like he moved there to live in a retirement community. I am thinking that this mass shooting of the dance studios was less about his ex-wife and more about the dance studios and possibly his estrangement from them over the years. And then with New Year's Eve coming around that was the trigger for the shooting, being alone in Hemet and not part of the celebration. Perhaps it was only tangentially related to his ex-wife.

JMO.

 

[Sundog]

Monterey Park 'looking for answers' as police probe mass shooting

Eleven people were killed and 9 more were injured when a gunman opened fire at a dance hall as residents gathered for Lunar New Year celebrations.

www.nbcnews.com

The gunman in the deadly shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park that left 10 people dead and at least 10 others injured as they celebrated the Lunar New Year may have been targeting his ex-wife and may have had a "history of domestic violence," the city's mayor said Monday.

Speaking with NBC News' Kate Snow, Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo said he believed the ex-wife had been at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio when the shooter, identified by authorities as Huu Can Tran, opened fire at the dance hall.

He said there appeared to be a "history of domestic violence" and that it was possible the suspect had been targeting his ex-wife, but did not expand further...

Someone posted an interview with the ex-wife on this thread last night and the ex-wife said that Tran would anger easily, but that he never was violent. So far, we are getting conflicting statements of domestic abuse from MSM, the Mayor, and the ex-wife. The shooting could have been targeted to the dance studios and only indirectly targeting the ex-wife. I think we will learn more eventually as LE complete their investigation.


ETA Link

Monterey Park mass shooter identified as Huu Can Tran

Huu Can Tran, 72, who gunned down 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey, California Saturday night was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Seattle1]

I wonder if it was his ex-wife that was invited? If so, and if she was a current regular, and Tran was not, it may be understandable why they wouldn’t have invited her (possibly mentally-unstable) ex-husband.

I understood (from the video clip with community leader Chester Chong on ABC7), the shooter's current wife was invited and he was not. There's also an ex-wife giving interviews that is not the same person.

Community leader Chester Chong told ABC7 that the owner of the dance studio on West Garvey Avenue was holding an event there on Saturday. Through talking with friends that were in attendance and other local leaders, he said a woman was invited to the event but not her husband, which made him upset. Chong said he believes that woman's husband is the suspect in this case and jealousy may be a possible motive for the shooting.

According to Chong, it wasn't uncommon for the owner of the dance studio to hold these types of events and only invite certain people. He said people got upset all the time about not being able to attend the events.

^^rsbm

 

[steeltowngirl]

I understood (from the video clip with community leader Chester Chong on ABC7), the shooter's current wife was invited and he was not. There's also an ex-wife giving interviews that is not the same person.


^^rsbm

Thanks @Seattle1

Sounds like the ex is safe, and maybe she was not there, or even invited. I guess we will soon find out if the wife was there, and if she survived. I hope so.

Very sad event.

 

[Sundog]

I understood (from the video clip with community leader Chester Chong on ABC7), the shooter's current wife was invited and he was not. There's also an ex-wife giving interviews that is not the same person.


^^rsbm

Monterey Park gunman was making silencers, had stockpiled ammunition, sheriff says

The man accused of gunning down 11 people and wounding nine others in Monterey Park, California had been stockpiling ammunition and was making homemade gun silencers inside his home, authorities re…

ktla.com

Other article says he lived alone in a Hemet, CA retirement community, according to neighbors there. At some point hopefully we will get official information from LE as they complete their investigation.