Death toll from mass shooting at California dance hall rises to 11; sheriff releases new details on investigation
The death toll from the weekend shooting in Monterey Park, California, rose to 11 on Monday, officials announced. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said in a statement that one of the four victims taken to LA County-USC Medical Center for treatment has died.
"Our heroic staff at LAC+USC Medical Center have worked tirelessly to care for the four victims entrusted to our care," the hospital said in a statement. "Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we are saddened to share that one of the victims has succumbed to their extensive injuries."
The hospital said another of the wounded patients, a 73-year-old woman, was discharged Monday, and two more were still being treated. They were among 10 wounded in the rampage at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park late Saturday night.
The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday in the white van he used to flee after attempting to attack a second dance hall, authorities said.
At that second location, the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra, the suspect was disarmed by a man who confronted him near the entrance. At a briefing Monday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified that "brave man" as Brandon Tsay and praised him for "heroic action which saved countless lives."
The sheriff described the gun wrestled away from the suspect as "a 9mm semiautomatic MAC-10 assault weapon."
A search of the suspect's home in Hemet, California, resulted in the recovery of several items of interest in the investigation, Luna said, including cellphones, computers and other electronics. He said one .308-caliber rifle was recovered, along with "hundreds of rounds" of ammunition.
Other items found "lead us to believe the suspect was manufacturing homemade firearm suppressors," Luna said.
He also said a handgun recovered from the van was registered to the suspect.
All but one of the victims at the Star Ballroom were 60 or older, according to information released Monday by the Los Angeles coroner's office providing the first identifications.
My Nhan, 65, and Lilian Li, 63, were the first two women named. Two other women were in their 60s, and one was in her 50s. Three men in their 70s and two in their 60s were also killed. The 11th fatality, on Monday, was a woman in her 70s, the medical examiner's office said.
The shootings during Lunar New Year celebrations sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities and cast a shadow over festivities nationwide.
The massacre was the nation's fifth mass killing this month, and it struck one of California's largest celebrations of a holiday observed in many Asian cultures, dealing another blow to a community that has been the target of high-profile violence in recent years.
It was also the deadliest attack in the U.S. since May 24, when 21 people were killed in the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Law enforcement officials said this weekend's 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, witnesses reported.
Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stressed that the motive remained unclear for the attack, which left nine other people wounded. No other suspects were at large, according to the sheriff.
The suspect was carrying what Luna described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine, and a second handgun was discovered in the van where the suspect died.
