Torrance, California
CNN
—
Investigators try to find out whether or not a person barricaded in a white van in Torrance, California, is similar man who killed 10 individuals in Monterey Park, the Los Angeles County sheriff mentioned.
SWAT officers had been in an hours-long standoff on the scene of the van, which resembles a car which may be related with the bloodbath on the Monterey Park dance studio.
As authorities ordered the occupant to go away the van, they heard a sound and believed the motive force might have shot himself, regulation enforcement sources instructed CNN.
Shortly earlier than 1 p.m. (4 p.m. ET), officers broke a window on the passenger’s aspect, examined the inside, and later calmly walked away.
Police haven’t publicly confirmed whether or not the occupant was useless.
For hours, authorities had been looking for the gunman who opened hearth at a dance studio in Monterey Park as town’s giant Asian American neighborhood was celebrating Lunar New Yr weekend.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division launched photographs of the wished suspect.
Along with the ten individuals killed, one other 10 individuals had been wounded and hospitalized, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna mentioned.
“Who walks right into a dance corridor and weapons down 20 individuals?” the sheriff mentioned.
• It’s not but sure whether or not a number of shooters open hearth in Monterey Park, Luna mentioned.
• A gaggle of individuals wrestled a gun away from man described as an Asian male at a dance studio within the close by metropolis of Alhambra shortly after the Monterey Park mass taking pictures, Luna mentioned. The sheriff mentioned investigators try to find out whether or not the 2 incidents are associated.
• Early data suggests the gunman who killed 10 individuals in Monterey Park could also be an Asian male, the sheriff mentioned. Whereas “the outline we have now now’s of a male Asian,” some witnesses’ descriptions of the gunman have differed, Luna mentioned. He cautioned the investigation is ongoing. “There really is much more that we don’t know than what we all know right now,” Luna mentioned.
• It’s nonetheless too quickly to rule out hate crime as a doable motive, the sheriff mentioned Sunday. “All the pieces’s on the desk.”
• Officers responded to a dance studio round 10:22 p.m. Saturday and located individuals “pouring out of the situation, screaming,” mentioned Capt. Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division.
• The bloodbath passed off within the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, in line with a CNN evaluation.
• The ten slain victims had been pronounced useless on the scene, Meyer mentioned. “There have been no less than 10 different victims who had been transported to quite a few native hospitals and are listed in varied situations from secure to essential,” Meyer mentioned.
The carnage unfolded close to Monterey Park’s Lunar New Yr competition, which was scheduled to happen till 9 p.m. on Garvey Avenue between Garfield and Alhambra avenues.
About 65% of Monterey Park’s residents are of Asian descent, in line with the US Census Bureau.
“Monterey Park ought to have had an evening of festivity of the Lunar New Yr. As an alternative, they had been the victims of a horrific and heartless act of gun violence,” Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted.
Whereas it’s too early to say whether or not the bloodbath was a hate crime, the impression has already been felt amongst one of many largest Asian American and Pacific Islander communities within the US, the mayor of close by Alhambra mentioned.
“To have this tragedy happen on Lunar New Yr weekend, makes this particularly painful,” Alhambra Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez tweeted.
“Monterey Park is residence to one of many largest #AAPI communities within the nation. This can be a time when residents ought to be celebrating with household, associates and family members – not fearing gun violence.”
Monterey Park, about 7 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, has been recognized to host Lunar New Yr occasions drawing greater than 100,000 individuals from throughout Southern California, in line with town.
It’s not clear how many individuals had been nonetheless gathered within the space when pictures had been fired.
The native Lunar New Yr competition which started Saturday and was scheduled to final into Sunday has been canceled, Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese mentioned Sunday.
“Out of an abundance of warning and reverence for the victims, we’re canceling the occasion that’s going to occur later right this moment,” Wiese mentioned.
Authorities are asking the general public for any clues that will assist with the investigation. These with data can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division’s Murder Bureau at 323-890-5500 or present an nameless tip to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
The bloodbath in Monterey Park marks no less than the thirty third mass taking pictures within the US thus far this month, in line with the Gun Violence Archive. Each the non-profit and CNN outline a mass taking pictures as one by which 4 or extra persons are shot, excluding the shooter.