Monterey Park mass shooter hadn’t been to dance studio for years and had no known connection to his victims, sheriff says

LOS ANGELES - The man who opened fire in a Monterey Park ballroom on Saturday evening, killing 11 people and wounding nine others celebrating Lunar New Year, had no known recent connection to that ballroom or any of the victims, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Wednesday night, Jan. 25.

Luna also said investigators are still looking for a motive for the massacre. And he revealed Monterey Park police have discovered a motorcycle that the suspect seemed to have stashed near the dance studio as an alternative getaway vehicle.

The shooter, Huu Can Tran, 72, of Hemet, took his own life after a traffic stop in Torrance in a van he was driving the morning after the mass shooting.

Luna, during a Wednesday night news conference, said investigators have found no proof that Tran had been to the ballroom in the past five years.

“It doesn’t make sense. It really doesn’t,” Luna said when asked about the motive.

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Addressing Tran’s past, Luna said investigators haven’t found any information to indicate he had been married at the time of the shooting.

“We have not been able to tie him in romantically to any of the victims so far,” Luna said.

Investigators have said that minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, he walked into Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in nearby Alhambra, where police believe he was going to kill others. But a worker there, Brandon Tsay, whose family operates the studio, disarmed Tran and Tran left.

The deadly attack occurred at 10:22 p.m. Saturday at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue.

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Investigators are looking into the circumstances of the weapons Tran was found to be in possession of, particularly a semi-automatic pistol he was believed to have used at the Monterey Park ballroom, where 42 shots were fired. The pistol was described as a Cobray M-11/9, also known as a Mac 10.

“The weapon was not registered in the state of California. It was purchased by the suspect on Feb. 9 of 1999 in the city of Monterey Park,” Luna said.

Staff writer Hunter Lee contributed to this story.