A shooting at Monterey Parksure of Californiaduring the celebration of Lunar New Year left 10 dead while the suspect died “from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” police said Sunday.
Robert Lunacounty sheriff The Angelswhere the town known as “New Chinatown” is located, indicated that a van with a wanted notice was tracked down and that when the agents approached, they heard a shot inside the vehicle.
The suspect suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene,” he said. He was identified by police as Huu Can Tran72 years old.
“I can confirm that there are no outstanding suspects,” he added. Lunawho said that the reason for the attack, which also left 10 injured, some seriously, is still unknown.
“The investigation is still ongoing. Homicide detectives…are working around the clock to gather additional information and determine the motive behind this extremely tragic incident,” he said.
The manhunt began 12 hours earlier after a man described by police as Asian opened fire at a nightclub in Monterey Park, California. 60 000 inhabitants mostly of Asian origin.
Late in the morning, the police had surrounded a white van in Torrance, south of Los Angeles and just over 40 km from Monterey Park.
Aerial images showed the van cornered by armored vehicles, while a large number of patrol cars were nearby, within a wide police cordon.
The siege culminated in heavily armed uniformed men boarding the van after breaking the passenger-side window with their weapons raised.
Photos taken by AFP at the scene show the lifeless body of a man in the driver’s seat.
– The shooting –
Police responded to emergency calls shortly after 10:00 p.m. Saturday (0600 GMT Sunday) and found people leaving the facility.
“Unfortunately” paramedics “declared 10 victims dead at the scene,” Luna said.
The deceased are five women and five men, authorities said without giving names or ages.
Witnesses said the suspect fired indiscriminately.
Wong Wei, who lives in Monterey Park, told the Los Angeles Times that a friend of hers had gone to the club and was in the bathroom when the shooting started.
As the owner of a nearby seafood restaurant told the newspaper, three people ran into his restaurant and asked him to lock the door, as there was a man with a semi-automatic weapon and several rounds of ammunition.
The suspected gunman then went to another dance venue a short distance away, but was accosted and disarmed before fleeing.
Luna paid tribute to two people at the scene of the second incident. “I can tell you that the suspect went in there, probably with the intent to kill more people, and two brave members of the community decided they were going to go into action and disarm him.”
“They took possession of the weapon and the suspect fled,” he added.
The weapon used was “a magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol … that had a high-capacity extended magazine,” he said. Luna.
(With information from AFP)