Possible suspect in L.A. mass shooting found dead in van, sources say - NBC News

LOS ANGELES — A antheral that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s section described arsenic “possibly” being a fishy successful a wide shooting successful Monterey Park is dead, according to 2 instrumentality enforcement sources acquainted with the investigation.

Earlier, sources acquainted with the probe into the Monterey Park Shooting told NBC News that the idiosyncratic successful a achromatic van stopped successful Torrance acceptable the statement of the idiosyncratic successful the van from the Monterey Park transgression country arsenic good arsenic a 2nd transgression country successful Alhambra.

Authorities surrounded and past breached the van wherever the unidentified idiosyncratic was recovered dead. 

Late Saturday night, 10 radical were killed and different 10 were wounded in the midst of Lunar New Year celebrations successful Monterey Park, an Asian American enclave, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

It was not wide what the motive was, Homicide Capt. Andrew Meyer said astatine a quality league aboriginal Sunday, arsenic the hunt for the suspected gunman continued.

Monterey constabulary officers archetypal responded to a creation hallway aft reports of a shooting came successful astatine 10:22 p.m. PT Saturday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday morning. People were rushing retired of the hallway arsenic officers went into the business.

Ten radical were killed astatine the venue, and 10 others were taken to hospitals successful conditions from unchangeable to critical, Luna said. Four of the injured were being treated astatine LAC + USC Medical Center, the infirmary confirmed.

Authorities were inactive moving to place the victims. Luna reported that 5 were women and 5 were men.

The suspected gunman whitethorn person been an Asian antheral 30 to 50 years old, Luna said, informing that it was inactive a preliminary description.

The sheriff's bureau released a photograph of the fishy and described him arsenic astir 5 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing a achromatic leather jacket, a beanie and glasses. The suspect's sanction was being withheld, Luna said Sunday.

Asked whether the lawsuit was being investigated arsenic a hatred crime, Luna told reporters that "everything is connected the table."

"We don't cognize if this is specifically a hatred transgression defined by law, but who walks into a creation hallway and guns down 20 people?" Luna said. "The statement we person present is of a antheral Asian. Does that matter? I don't know. I tin archer you that everything's connected the table."

Follow on present for unrecorded updates.

Police and occurrence units could beryllium seen swarming the country successful video posted to societal media. Others showed victims being transferred to ambulances.

Police astatine the country of the shooting successful Monterey Park, Calif.. AFP - Getty Images

Officials are investigating different incidental successful the adjacent metropolis of Alhambra to spot whether it was connected.

About 20 minutes aft the shooting successful Monterey Park, an Asian antheral entered a creation hallway with a firearm, Luna said. People successful the hallway wrestled the weapon distant from him, and helium took disconnected successful a achromatic cargo van.

Luna said astatine a briefing that helium believed the Alhambra incidental was connected to the Monterey Park shooting but that investigators were looking astatine each possibilities.

Thousands of radical had gathered for a Lunar New Year Festival successful Monterey Park, a metropolis of astir 60,000, astir two-thirds of them Asian American. It is astir 10 miles eastbound of Los Angeles.

Monterey Park's neighboring assemblage Alhambra is much than 50% Asian American.

The two-day lawsuit features “food booths with assorted types of delectable items, amusement rides, and tons of unrecorded entertainment,” according to the city’s website.

Previous festivals person drawn crowds of much than 100,000 visitors a day, the city’s website said, attracting crowds from passim Southern California.

Meyer said that constabulary “will look astatine each space arsenic acold arsenic whether it was a hatred transgression oregon not” but that it was excessively aboriginal successful the probe to cognize whether the onslaught was racially motivated.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweet Sunday greeting that helium was intimately monitoring the shooting. His bureau said it was moving with section instrumentality enforcement successful response.

"Monterey Park should person had a nighttime of joyful solemnisation of the Lunar New Year," Newsom said. "Instead, they were the victims of a horrific and heartless enactment of weapon violence."

President Joe Biden expressed his condolences successful a connection Sunday greeting and said residents should travel authoritative guidance.

“Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured successful past night’s deadly wide shooting successful Monterey Park,” helium tweeted.

Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese told reporters: “I’m monitoring this concern intimately arsenic it develops and impulse the assemblage to travel guidance from section officials and instrumentality enforcement successful the hours ahead.”

Sunday's lawsuit was canceled retired of respect for the victims, helium said.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., offered her condolences astatine the quality conference. Chu not lone represents the district, but she has besides lived successful Monterey Park for 37 years, and she served was the city's politician aft having been elected successful 1990.

"It is horrible that specified a happening could hap astatine a clip of solemnisation for truthful galore successful the AAPI assemblage and successful the Asian assemblage worldwide," Chu said, utilizing the initialism for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. "This is simply a clip to beryllium with household to celebrate, and yet this tore a spread done each of our hearts."

The shooting stunned those acquainted with the usually quiescent area.

Simu Liu, who portrays the warrior Shang-Chi successful Marvel’s archetypal Asian superhero movie, tweeted that helium was “shocked and saddened” by the incident.

“It’s location of Asian American families, parents, grandparents, siblings, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. All of whom were looking guardant to celebrating the New Year this weekend,” helium said.

The latest unit comes 2 months aft five radical were killed astatine a nightclub successful Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Linda Takahashi reported from Los Angeles, Cristian Santana and Doha Madani from New York and Leila Sackur from London.