The 72-year-old suspected gunman in Saturday night’s mass shooting at a Los Angeles-area dance studio had been a regular there, giving informal lessons and even meeting his ex-wife at the venue, according to friends and media reports.
Authorities say Huu Can Tran fired 42 rounds at a celebration of the Lunar New Year at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, popular in the predominantly Asian-American city of Monterey Park, east of Los Angeles. The death toll rose to 11 on Monday.
Tran had at least one prior run-in with the law. In 1994, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters.
A search after the shooting revealed Tran had hundreds of rounds of ammunition at home, where investigators believe he was making his own silencers, Luna said.
Adam Hood, who said he has been a tenant for years in a property Tran owned and spoke to him frequently, told Reuters that Tran was angry and did not have many friends, but liked ballroom dancing, his main social activity.
