Authorities said they have been unable to establish a connection between the Monterey Park mass shooting suspect and any of his victims.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said they do not believe 72-year-old Huu Can Tran frequented the Star Ballroom Dance Studio where the shooting took place in the last five years, based on witness testimony and reported by the Los Angeles Times’s Julia Wick.
At least 11 people died and nine others were injured after a shooter, believed to be Tran, entered the ballroom on Saturday at about 10:22 p.m. and opened fire. Each of the victims was in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, officials said.
Tran was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement said they believe he tried to carry out another mass shooting less than a half hour after the first one, which was only thwarted because of a man who saw the threat and disarmed him.
In other new details announced Wednesday night, Luna said a motorcycle registered to Tran was recovered about a block from the ballroom, parked there sometime before the shooting on Saturday. According to Wick, investigators believe Tran’s intent was to have an alternative getaway vehicle.
Still, no motive has been identified yet in the mass shooting that rocked California and the country. Because it occurred during a Lunar New Year celebration and in a predominantly Asian American community, many have speculated whether it should and will be considered a racial hate crime.
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Vice President Kamala Harris visited a memorial set up outside the Star Dance Studio on Wednesday to honor the victims killed in the shooting.
Just two days after the Monterey Park shooting, at least seven people were killed in a series of shootings in Half Moon Bay, California. Police arrested and charged Chunli Zhao, 67, in connection with the attack.
