Over the weekend in Los Angeles’ Monterey Park, a gunman killed 11 people and injured at least nine more at a ballroom dance hall during Lunar New Year celebrations. 

   On Sunday, the Star Ballroom dance studio buzzed with excitement. An hour after the city’s Lunar New Year festival tragedy struck when a gunman opened fire on the venue. Soon after the attack on the first dance club, the suspect continued on to a second near Alhambra called Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, but two people were able to wrestle the gun away from the suspect before any damage was done. The suspect fled away from the scene in a white cargo van, according to the Los Angeles Times and witnesses on the scene.

   According to AP News, the killer was identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. Following the massacre, Tran was found dead in his van with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Prior to the shooting, Tran had been affiliated with both dance clubs and was a regular patron of the Star Ballroom dance club according to CNN.       

   Records show Tran briefly served as CEO of a business based in San Gabriel called Tran’s Trucking, Inc, with the company initiated in 2002 and dissolved in 2004 according to ABC7. Also, law enforcement sources told ABC News that Tran held no record of criminal history. His motive for the massacre has yet to be confirmed. 

   According to AP News, “We do understand that he may have had a history of visiting this dance hall and perhaps the motivation has to do with some personal relationships,” Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo said. “But that’s something that I think investigators are still uncovering and investigating.”

   This massacre is one of the nation’s fifth mass killings this month and is the deadliest attack since May 24, when 21 people were killed in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas according to AP News. It has also implemented and raised fears within Asian American communities. In a Los Angeles Times article, according to a state report, Asian American hate crimes in California had increased by 177.5% from 2020 to 2021 and a recent poll showed two-thirds of Asian Americans in L.A. county worry about being the victim of a racial attack. 

   According to the Los Angeles Times, President Biden issued a proclamation that ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public buildings until sunset on Thursday.