AMN WEB DESK
The death toll rose to 11 in California Dance Hall Massacre after health officials announced that one of the 10 people who were wounded had died.
The mass shooting, one of the deadliest in California’s history, began at around 22:22 local time on Saturday (06:22 GMT on Sunday) at the popular Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, about seven miles (11km) east of central Los Angeles.
The search for the motive behind the shooting massacre led police to a mobile home community as they probed the past of the 72-year-old suspect Monday and his relationship to the club.
The suspect, Huu Can Tran, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday, had visited police in his town of Hemet twice this month to allege he was the victim of fraud, theft and poisoning by family members between 10 and 20 years ago in the LA area, spokesman Alan Reyes told The Associated Press. Tran said he would return to the station with documentation but never did.
Law enforcement officials said the rampage could have been even deadlier. A man whose family runs the second dance hall confronted the assailant in the lobby and wrested the gun from him, The New York Times reported.
“We do understand that he may have had a history of visiting this dance hall and perhaps the motivation has to do with some personal relationships. But that’s something that I think investigators are still uncovering and investigating,” said Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo. Public records show Tran once had addresses in the city and neighboring ones.
The mayor and L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna stressed that the motive remained unclear for the attack, which also wounded 10 people. No other suspects were at large, according to the sheriff.