Investigators yet to establish connection between Monterey Park gunman and victims
In a press conference on Wednesday, Sheriff Robert Luna said investigators have not yet established a connection between the Monterey Park gunman and victims.
"Based on the interviews, the investigators are still conducting, they have not been able to establish a connection between the suspect and any of the victims thus far," said Luna.
Rumors suggested that the suspect was acting out of jealousy and went to the Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park to find and kill his wife. However, Luna added that the suspect was not married.
"We have not been able to tie him in romantically to any of the victims, so far," he said.
The tragic incident was one of the deadliest mass shootings in Los Angeles County and claimed the lives of 11 people and wounded 9 others. Deputies have not determined a motive.
"Hopefully we can," said Luna. "Sometimes it's frustrating when something like this happens that's so tragic because we're trying to understand it and it doesn't make sense."
According to the witnesses that the department has interviewed so far, deputies do not believe the suspect Huu Can Tran, 72, had not habitually been at the Star Dance Studio for the last five years.
"We've also been hearing a lot of information that he was recently there. Again, based on the statements we have, he hasn't been there for five years," Luna added.
Additionally, authorities discovered a motorcycle registered to the suspect on the 200 block of South Garfield Avenue. They believe he parked the bike there just prior to the murders and intended to use it as an alternate getaway vehicle.
The gunman was found in a white van parked in a lot nearby the Del Amo Mall. He died by suicide.
Luna added that two of the three weapons deputies recovered — a Norico 7.62 x 25 mm pistol and a Savage Arms .308 caliber rifle — were registered to the suspect. A Cobray Model CM 11-9, known as a MAC-10 — believed to be the murder weapon — was recovered by authorities after it was wrestled away by 26-year-old Brandon Tsay at an Alhambra ballroom.
Before 1986, variants of the MAC-10 were capable of full-auto fire. The manufacturing of fully automatic firearms was banned during the Ronald Regan administration in 1986 through the Firearm Owners' Protection Act.
The MAC-10 and its variants were banned in California in 1992.
This weapon, which was not registered to the shooter in California, was purchased by the suspect in February 1999 in Monterey Park. Luna said deputies do not know if the suspect bought the firearm through a private party or through a registered dealer.
"That is something else that we're looking at," said Luna. "ATF is assisting us, just as the FBI is. They're helping us to get that information."
The gunman was arrested in 1990 for unlawful possession of a firearm.
Anyone with information is asked to call the department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500