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California investigators are searching for a motive for a gunman who killed 10 people at a Los Angeles-area ballroom dance club during a Lunar New Year celebration, a killing that sent waves of fear through Asian American communities and cast a shadow over celebrations nationwide.
The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a van that authorities said he used to flee after being prevented from attacking another dance hall.
The massacre sparked one of the largest holiday celebrations in California that spans many Asian cultures, dealing another blow to a community that has been the target of violence in recent years.
The attack at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park was the deadliest in the US since May 24, 2022, when 21 people were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Authorities said Saturday’s attack could have been even more deadly. A man whose family runs the Lai Lai Ballroom in a town near Alhambra confronted the assailant in the lobby about 20 minutes after the Monterey Park violence and wrested a gun from him, The New York Times reported.
Brandon Tsay spoke about the moment he was able to wrestle the gun from the alleged shooter at a dance studio in Alhambra, California, shortly after the mass shooting in Monterey Park.
The man, Brandon Tsay, told ABC Good morning America who thought he would die.
“Something came over me. I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him, I have to take this weapon, disarm him or else everybody will die,” said Tsay. “When I was brave, I lunged at him with both my hands, holding the weapon and we had a struggle.”
After Tsay grabbed the gun, he pointed it at the man and shouted: “Get out of here, I’ll shoot, go, go!”
The assailant paused, but then returned to the van, and Tsay called the police, gun still in hand.
Tsay, who works several days a week at the dance hall his grandfather started, told The New York Times that he was acting alone. Stills from the security footage are shown Good morning America shows just two people fighting for a gun.
Heartbreak for the Asian American community
Authorities have revealed very little about Tran.
Mayor of Monterey Park Henry Lo and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna emphasized that the motive remains unclear for the attack, which also injured 10 people. Luna said all of the people killed appeared to be over 50. There are no other suspects, according to the sheriff.
Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people on the eastern edge of Los Angeles and is mostly made up of Asian immigrants from China or first generation Asian Americans. The shooting happened in the middle of the city where red lanterns decorated the streets for the Lunar New Year celebrations.
“We haven’t had a celebration like this in three years, so this is very important. People came out in droves,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jose Sanchez.
Tony Lai, 35, of Monterey Park was shocked when he went out for a walk in the morning to find out that the noise he heard during the night was a gunshot.
“I thought maybe it was fireworks. I thought it had something to do with Imlek,” he said. “And we don’t even get a lot of fireworks here. It’s weird to see this. It’s really safe here.”
WATCH | The suspect reportedly frequented Lai Lai Ballroom before:
Police say the gunman who shot five men and five women at a ballroom dance club in Monterey Park, California, during a Lunar New Year celebration has died from gunshot wounds.
California Governor Gavin Newsom visited Monterey Park on Sunday, meeting with the victims and their families as well as local officials. The massacre sent shockwaves through Asian American communities across the country, prompting police from San Francisco to New York to increase patrols around Chinese New Year celebrations in their own cities.
But Asian American advocacy groups say it’s another blow after years of anti-Asian violence across the country.
“Having this tragedy on one of our most important holidays … feels very personal for our community,” said Connie Chung Joe, CEO of the Southern California non-profit Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
The suspect was carrying what Luna described as a semi-automatic pistol with a full magazine, and a second handgun was found in the van where Tran died.
Law enforcement officials tracked down the suspect’s van in Torrance and eventually entered it. A man’s body appears slumped over the wheel and then removed.
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