The suspected gunman wanted for killing 10 people and wounding at least 10 more at a dance club Saturday is dead after shooting himself, according to a report.
The alleged mass murderer turned a gun on himself inside a van Sunday, law enforcement sources told local CBS affiliate station KCAL News.
Earlier in the day, police located the white van apparently linked to the suspect who shot up a Monterey Park dance club following a Lunar New Year celebration.
Armored tanks — and a bomb squad — descended upon the white van in Torrance, Calif. before noon local time, in what became a more than hour-long standoff. Just before 1 p.m. local time, a SWAT team opened the passenger door of the vehicle, and then the side doors. Photos showed a man slumped over in the driver’s seat.
Authorities described the suspect only as an “Asian male” between the age of 30 to 50 and didn’t immediately confirm he was the person seen inside the van.
“Could it be our suspect? Possibly,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in an afternoon press conference.
Luna’s department released a wanted poster of the suspect, showing him in glasses and wearing a dark winter beanie with a white design, leather jacket and glasses. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of a second suspect, but provided no evidence there might be one.
The motive behind the heinous crime at the Star Dance Studio in the Asian-American enclave of Monterey Park Saturday night was still unknown, but investigators were probing whether the massacre was driven by hate.
Chester Chong, chairman of the Chinese Chamber Commerce of Los Angeles, said he heard that the shooting was related to a domestic violence issue, telling The Post, “I was told the wife was invited to the Lunar New Year Party and the husband was not.”
Luna said the department is purposefully shielding some information from the public, in part because someone called a hospital with some of the injured victims and threatened to “finish the job.”
The sheriff didn’t specify what type of weapon was used in the attack, but said “we can tell you it was not a high-powered assault riffle.” Luna couldn’t say if more than one weapon was used.
Five men and five women were slain during the rampage at the ballroom dance club, about eight miles outside downtown Los Angeles, according to police.
Ten others were wounded and being treated at local hospitals — their conditions ranging from stable to critical, officials said.
The “assumption” is that the victims were “probably” of Asian descent, Luna told reporters. The victims had not yet been identified and it was not immediately clear how old they were, Luna said.
Police were also looking into if he was the same man who walked into a “rival” dancehall in nearby Alhambra with a firearm about 20 minutes after the mass murder.
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