The Monterey mass shooter may have gone to hospital after fatally shooting 10 people during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.
Local hospital staff reported a man matching Huu Can Trans’s description to the emergency room for injuries that may have been sustained in a fight, police told CNN.
Tran, 72, was identified as the gunman who shot dead several people at a ballroom dance studio late Saturday amid celebrations in the mostly Asian-American community.
Hospital workers said the man sat in the waiting room before leaving without treatment. He was identified by coworkers from wanted photos posted to the sheriff’s department Twitter account.
Five women and five men were killed and ten others injured in the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park. Then, 20 to 30 minutes later, the gunman entered the Lai Lai ballroom at the nearby Alhambra, where brave guests fought him off and took the gun.
Tran then fled the scene and was at large until Sunday, when police found him in the van he had used to escape the massacre.
Huu Can Tran, 72, may have gone to hospital on Sunday after killing 10 people. Hospital workers said he appeared to have battle wounds. This photo was published earlier
Tran was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the van he fled after his attempt at a second shooting, which was foiled by “hero” guests on Saturday night
Police release a photo of the suspect in the Chinese Lunar New Year massacre in Monterey Park
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Sunday identified Tran as the suspect and confirmed his motive is unknown.
“He intended to kill more people,” Luna said in a news conference Sunday night. “They saved lives,” he said of the patrons. “That could have been a lot worse.”
He continued: The weapon we found at the second crime scene I describe as a semi-automatic assault pistol with a magazine. Not an assault rifle, but an assault pistol fitted with an extended large-capacity magazine.’
The victims’ exact ages were not released, but Luna said they all appeared to be in their 50s. Seven of the wounded remained hospitalized.
Horrific images showed victims being stretched from the scene before being taken to hospital while police officers and ambulances swarmed the area.
Police officers said crowds of terrified festival-goers poured out of the area “screaming” as bullets continued to fly.
A police officer walks past a body slumped in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck in Torrance, California, Sunday after a standoff with police
Aerial footage shows officers pulling unknown items from the white van after the standoff
A series of incidents took place across much of the Los Angeles area on Sunday, all of which are believed to have been committed by the same suspect
Tran was carrying a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second pistol was discovered in the van where he was found dead, officials said
Tran was carrying a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second pistol was discovered in the van where he was found dead, Luna added.
Police officers fanned out and entered the van after surrounding it for hours on Sunday.
They heard a gunshot and approached the van to find Trans’s body slumped over the steering wheel.
Before locating Tran, Luna said authorities were looking for a white van after witnesses reported the suspect fled the Alhambra in one such vehicle.
The shooting and manhunt sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities in the Los Angeles area and cast a shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations across the country. Other cities sent additional officers to oversee the celebrations.
Several casualties were reported after the shooting in California during the New Year celebrations
The first shooting took place in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue, where the Star Ballroom Dance Studio is located (pictured).
A second shooting, which police are investigating to see if it’s related, occurred at the nearby Lai Lai ballroom at the Alhambra (pictured).
Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people on the eastern edge of Los Angeles and is made up primarily of Asian immigrants from China or first-generation Asian Americans.
The shooting took place in the heart of downtown, where red lanterns adorned the streets for the Lunar New Year celebrations. A police car was parked near a large banner that read “Happy Year of the Rabbit!”
The celebration at Monterey Park is one of the largest in California. Two festival days were planned, which have been attended by up to 100,000 people in recent years. But officials canceled Sunday’s events after the shooting.