Monterey

The gunman behind the deadly dance hall shooting in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park may have been targeting his ex-wife on the Lunar New Year, the city’s mayor said Monday.

That revelation came as investigators are focused on a personal motive and have discounted hate crime or terrorism as a possible inspiration for the attack, multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said.

The officials emphasized that it’s early in the investigation but said evidence gathered at the suspect’s home and in the van where he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday afternoon so far suggests the bloodshed was somehow personal.

The death toll from Saturday’s shooting climbed to 11 Monday, with at least nine other people being treated for their wounds, officials said. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday afternoon the suspect fired 42 rounds at the Monterey Park venue.

The sheriff said the gunman used a MAC-10, a compact semiautomatic and sometimes automatic firearm. The weapon was wrested at a second dance hall by a man being hailed as a hero.

Luna has called the firearm an “assault weapon.”

On Sunday, the sheriff said he believed such a gun may be illegal to possess in California, but the legality of the weapon was unclear Monday.

Luna said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI were helping to investigate.

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Huu Can Tran, the 72-year-old suspected shooter, apparently thought his former wife was at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio when he burst inside and opened fire on a festive crowd, police said.

“My understanding is that he may have come because his ex-wife was reveling, celebrating the Lunar New Year, and it sounded like there was a history of domestic violence, which is unfortunate,” Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo told NBC News’ Kate Snow.

Tran filed for divorce in 2005 in Los Angeles County, records show. NBC News has reached out to the person believed to be his ex-wife for comment.

What police found at suspect’s home

Police on Monday continued searching the suspect’s home in Hemet, a small city about 85 miles east of Los Angeles, and did not divulge a motive.

Luna said at an afternoon news conference that hundreds of rounds of loose .9 mm and .308 cal. ammunition was found at the residence, along with a .308 caliber rifle and evidence the suspect may have been making homemade firearms suppressors, which are illegal in California.

Alan Reyes, the public information officer for the Hemet Police Department, said their records show that Tran contacted them a decade ago and alleged his family was trying to poison him. The allegation was never investigated because Tran never presented any proof to back up his claims, he said.

Law enforcement officials said Tran lived at The Lakes at Hemet West, a gated “active living community” for people 55 and older more than an hour and a half south of Los Angeles.

The community sits on 150 acres in the San Jacinto Valley and includes a golf course, dog park, swimming pool, tennis court and other amenities.

Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Tran’s mobile home Sunday night, and multiple Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office vehicles were seen exiting the property Monday afternoon.

Asian community in mourning after Monterey Park shooting

Jan. 24, 2023 02:21

Multiple attempts to enter The Lakes were denied by a security guard. A spokesperson for The Lakes declined to comment.

Tran died some 12 hours after the massacre of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a white van as a SWAT team closed in on him, Luna said Sunday.

A Norinco 9 mm handgun was found inside that vehicle, Luna said Monday.

Community mourns the victims

As the mostly Asian community braced for a wave of funerals, the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office released the names of some of the victims: My Nhan, 65, Lilan Li, 63, and Valentino Alvero, 68. It was not immediately clear if they knew the gunman.

A vigil is planned for Tuesday in Monterey Park.

“We believe that it is important for our community to come together to remember and heal,” Lo said in a statement.

At 72, Tran did not fit the age profile of a mass shooter. The median age over the past six decades is 32, according to data compiled by The Violence Project , a nonprofit research center funded by the National Institute of Justice.

Sheriff Luna said Monday afternoon that one of the dead was found in a vehicle just outside the Monterey Park venue, likely the first victim of the rampage. The others were killed inside, he said.

Threat at second dance hall

Some 30 minutes after Tran opened fire in the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, he turned up at another dance studio in the nearby town of Alhambra, police said. There, Tran was stripped of what police described as a “semi-automatic assault pistol” by a member of the family that operates the venue before he could harm anybody.

“When he came in, he said nothing,” Brandon Tsay, 26, told NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday. “His face was very stoic. His expressions were mostly in his eyes … looking around trying to find people, trying to scout the area for other people.”

Tsay said at first he “froze up” and was convinced he was going to die.

“But something amazing happened, a miracle actually,” Tsay said. “He started to try to prep his weapon so he could shoot everybody, but then it dawned on me that this was the moment to disarm him, I could do something here that could protect everybody and potentially save myself.”

So Tsay pounced and was able to wrestle the pistol out of Tran’s hands.

“That young man is a hero,” Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents the district, said earlier Monday. “He saved so many lives.”

Luna later agreed, saying, “What a brave man he is.”

Tran was able to get away, police said. And about a dozen hours after the bloodshed in Monterey Park, police tracked his white van to a car park 30 miles away in the suburb of Torrance where the suspect killed himself.

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Several pieces of evidence linking Tran to the carnage were found inside the van, Luna said. A handgun was also found in the van, he added.

A resource center was established at Monterey Park’s Langley Senior Center, he said, adding that mental health resources were available for “anyone who needs support.”

Families and friends gathered at the center through much of Sunday, waiting to hear news of loved ones who they feared might have been among the people killed or injured.

“I tried to reach her, but I didn’t get any response,” Monterey Park resident Vivian King said of a friend she last heard from earlier in the weekend.

“It’s difficult not knowing what’s going on,” said Juan Pablo Pinzon, a tourist from Colombia, who said his cousin had been out with friends in the area Saturday night and had not responded to texts and calls. “Hopefully, we’ll hear something soon.”

The man who has been hailed as a hero for disarming the Monterey Park, California, shooter at a second dance hall late Saturday says that in the moments before he took action, he was afraid for his own life.

“There was a moment I actually froze up, because I was, I had the belief that I was gonna die, like my life was ending here, at that very moment,” Brandon Tsay, 26, told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an interview that aired Monday night. “But something amazing happened, a miracle actually. He started to try to prep his weapon so he could shoot everybody, but then it dawned on me that this was the moment to disarm him, I could do something here that could protect everybody and potentially save myself.”

Tsay said that when the suspect arrived at the second dance hall not long after killing 11 people and injured at least 10 more , he looked intent on more violence.

“When he came in, he said nothing,” he said. “His face was very stoic. His expressions were mostly in his eyes — looking around trying to find people, trying to scout the area for other people.”

Surveillance video shows moment man disarms Monterey Park shooting suspect

Jan. 23, 2023 02:53

Tsay said earlier in an interview Monday with ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that most customers had already left by the time the shooter arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, about 2 miles north of Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the first deadly attack had taken place about 20 minutes earlier, authorities have said.

Tsay’s grandmother is co-owner of Lai Lai, and he helps out at the front desk and is “the face of the club when people come in,” he told Holt. Around 10:30 p.m., the gunman walked in.

“When I first saw him, my thoughts were — oh, my God, that’s a gun,” Tsay said. “What followed was the severity of what I saw. There’s a weapon, and potentially people could get killed.”

The dance hall was hosting a party with dancing for Lunar New Year. Tsay had not heard about the shooting in Monterey Park.

After he saw the man apparently preparing the weapon, Tsay said, he crept out of sight while the man’s attention was on the gun.

“Maybe two steps, three steps, and then I was in a position where I could immediately rush him. Straight, beeline towards his gun,” Tsay said. “So I lunged at him and grabbed it with both my hands, holding on for dear life.”

There was a struggle, but when the gunman took one hand off his weapon to hit Tsay, Tsay wrestled the gun away from him. Tsay aimed at him and shouted: “Go away, I’ll shoot! Get out of here! Go!”

“He was contemplating for a moment, like he wanted to take the gun away. He wanted to fight for it. He wanted to stake his life on it,” Tsay said. “This is when I realized I would have to shoot him if he tried it.”

Tsay said he did not recognize the shooter, identified by authorities as Huu Can Tran, 72.

Tran fatally shot himself in a cargo van in Torrance, a city nearly 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, as law enforcement officers closed in Sunday, officials have said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday that the weapon taken from Tran at the Lai Lai was a 9 mm semi-automatic MAC-10, which he called an assault weapon.

Luna thanked Tsay at a news conference Monday for his “heroic action, which saved countless lives.”

“What a brave man he is,” Luna said.

After the gunman left Lai Lai and ran into an alleyway, Tsay called police. Arriving officers told Tsay about the Monterey Park shooting.

The gunman didn’t say anything during the incident, Tsay said.

“His facial expressions, eyes did most of the talking,” Tsay said. “They told me he wanted to do harm.”

Tsay estimated the entire encounter lasted a minute but said it felt far longer. He sustained bruises to his nose and on the back of his head, and his back was aching afterward.

He said he was thankful that it was near closing time and that many people had left when the gunman entered.

“It would have been hard to think if people were leaving and this guy was just outside in the parking lot,” Tsay said.

Tsay’s grandmother started the club, he said, and three generations of the family have been associated with it. Tsay described it as a fun place where people gather to dance, exercise and socialize.

“This was supposed to be a day of celebration and for people to have fun,” Tsay said. “But having someone come and ruin the lives and the families of this Chinese community of dancers — it’s just so horrific.”

A video of a man disarming the suspected Monterey Park shooter shows him wrestling the gun away and potentially preventing more carnage at a second dance hall minutes after the gunman killed 11 people and wounded at least nine more at the first site.

Brandon Tsay, 26, has been hailed as a hero for disarming the Monterey Park shooter at a dance hall in Alhambra, California.

Harrowing video obtained exclusively by NBC News captured the men tussling in what appears to be an empty lobby in the dance hall.

An armed man, dressed in dark clothing and a hat, walks out of the picture and about 30 seconds later is seen struggling with Tsay as the two wrestle over the weapon. A shoving match ensues, and Tsay manages to take the gun away from the man.

The weapon has been described as a “semi-automatic assault pistol.”

The man then punches Tsay in his head while Tsay holds the weapon. The men continue to struggle before Tsay pushes the man off. The man continues to reach for the gun before he gives up and walks out of the room.

Tsay then points at the man and briefly moves out of the camera’s view before he returns, with the gun in his right hand and using a cellphone with the other.

The entire ordeal lasted about 4 minutes.

Man who disarmed Monterey Park shooter: ‘I had the belief that I was gonna die’

Jan. 23, 2023 01:23

“There was a moment I actually froze up, because I was, I had the belief that I was gonna die, like my life was ending here, at that very moment,” Tsay told NBC News’ Lester Holt.

“But something amazing happened, a miracle actually. He started to try to prep his weapon so he could shoot everybody, but then it dawned on me that this was the moment to disarm him. I could do something here that could protect everybody and potentially save myself.”

Tsay said the gunman, who has since been identified as Huu Can Tran, 72 — came in and looked as if he were intent on further violence.

“When he came in, he said nothing,” he said. “His face was very stoic. His expressions were mostly in his eyes — looking around trying to find people, trying to scout the area for other people.”

The motive in Saturday night’s mass shooting is unclear. Law enforcement officials said Monday it appeared to be personal.

Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said evidence gathered so far seems to rule out terrorism or a hate crime.

Tsay told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” earlier Monday that most customers had left by the time the shooter arrived at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, about 2 miles from Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where he carried out his deadly attack about 20 minutes earlier, authorities have said.

Tsay is a computer coder and works at the dance hall a few nights a week as the third generation in his family to operate it, according to The New York Times .

The dance hall was hosting a “social dance party” for Lunar New Year when Tsay “heard the sound of the front door creaking closing and instantly followed by the sound of a metal object clinking together as if they were rubbing,” he told “Good Morning America.”

Tsay said he did not recognize the shooter and described him to ABC News as “somebody I have never seen before.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday the weapon recovered at the Alhambra dance hall was a “semi-automatic assault pistol” with an extended large-capacity magazine attached.

“We struggled into the lobby, trying to get this gun away from each other,” Tsay told ABC News. “He was hitting me across the face, bashing the back of my head. I was trying to use my elbows to separate the gun away from him, creating some distance.”

Once Tsay finally obtained control of the gun, he had to threaten to shoot the man before he fled, he told ABC News: “Finally, at one point, I was able to pull the gun away from him, shove him aside, create some distance, point the gun at him, intimidate him, shout at him and say: ‘Get the hell out here. I’ll shoot! Get away. Go!’ And at this point, I thought he would run away, but he was just standing there contemplating whether to fight or to run away. I really thought I would have to shoot him if he came at me.”

The shooter then turned and fled back to his white van, Tsay said, adding that he “immediately called police” as he was still holding the gun.

The shooter later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday after a manhunt that ended about 30 miles away. The motive in the dance hall attack remains unknown, Luna told reporters Sunday night.

Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo told NBC News the gunman may have been targeting his ex-wife on the Lunar New Year.

Prince William owns some of the UK’s most sought-after pieces of land , which hold white sandy beaches spread across five different islands.

As King Charles’ oldest son , he is in charge of the Duchy of Cornwall, a massive portfolio of property that spans 55,000 hectares of land that spans across England, but is concentrated in the south west.

King Charles was the previous head of the Duchy from 1993 to 2022, while he was still the Duke of Cornwall.

READ MORE: King Charles is almost twice as rich than late Queen Elizabeth II, new figures reveals

The Duchy owns most of the freehold of the five islands of the Isles of Scilly, a beautiful set of islands that are renowned for their beauty and tranquillity, DevonLive reported .

Daily Mirror travel reporter Peter Fenton previously pointed out that the islands are now attracting huge names because of this.

“Celebs such as Jude Law have enjoyed the islands’ privacy. The easy pace of life and crime-and traffic-free environment bring people back year after year,” he wrote.

“No nightclubs or theme parks, just the freshest air and the gentle roar of a sea that is visible from almost everywhere.”

With a population of just 2,203, the archipelago’s locals largely rely on tourism to keep themselves afloat.

Given its long and rich history, the islands have a huge amount to see and do.

The fortified castle, in the shape of an eight-pointed star, still stands guard over the harbour of Hugh Town, St Mary’s, though today it is a cosy and atmospheric hotel and Scilly’s only invaders are ­tourists and the October birdwatchers.

The Star Castle, with its thick granite walls, ancient beamed ceilings and dungeon bar, is an ideal base to explore one of Britain’s hidden gems.

Tresco is famous for its botanical gardens established by Augustus Smith in the 19th century, and his descendant Robert Dorrien Smith now presides over the island.

The gardens are proof that Scilly enjoys an enviable micro-climate, boasting Monterey pines from California and proteas from South Africa.

The gardens also host figureheads from local shipwrecks, as well as an 18-pounder cannon from the warship Association, whose loss in 1707 with three other ships and hundreds of lives after a navigation error led to the race to discover a way of measuring longitude.

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