- Ten people were killed and 10 were injured in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California on Saturday night.
- Police described the suspect as a “male Asian” between 30 years old and 50 years old.
- A SWAT operation with a “barricaded suspect situation” in a white van ended Sunday afternoon.
California officials said a SWAT operation involving a “barricaded suspect situation” with a white “van of interest” to this weekend’s Monterey Park mass shooting ended Sunday afternoon.
Earlier, a SWAT team surrounded a parked van in Torrance, a city south of Monterey Park, at around noon local time and was at a standoff, according to ABC7.
“#LASD SEB SWAT operation for an armed suspect in Torrance has concluded. Neighborhood safe,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforecmeent Bureau announced on Twitter.
—SEB (@SEBLASD) January 22, 2023
Authorities have not confirmed if the suspect in the van is connected to the shooting.
According to Long Beach Press-Telegram reporter Kristy Hutchings, an anonymous law enforcement source said the individual in the white van “shot and killed himself” after being pulled over.
—Kristy Hutchings (she/her) (@krhutchings) January 22, 2023
On Saturday night, a shooter opened fire in a ballroom dance hall in Monterey Park, California during a Lunar New Year celebration festival — killing at least 10 people and injuring 10 others.
The shooter, described as a 30 to 50-year-old “male Asian” fled the scene of the shooting and remains at large, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference on Sunday.
At the press conference, Luna said that police are in a “barricaded suspect situation” with the van and that the suspect “could be” inside the van.
“We believe there is a person inside of that vehicle,” Luna said at the press conference. “We don’t know their condition, but we’re going to handle that in the safest manner that we possibly can to try and identify that person. Could it be our suspect? Possibly. But at this point, if we’re doing our jobs correctly, we’re not only looking at that situation or scenario, but we’re making sure that we’re looking at any and every possibility.”
Luna said that police recovered a weapon from the scene of the shooting and that the weapon was not a high-powered assault rifle.
The sheriff’s department shared a picture of a possible suspect, who was described as a 5-feet, 10-inch, Asian male with a dark complexion.
—Robert Luna (@LACoSheriff) January 22, 2023
A second incident in the city of Alhambra, just north of Monterey Park, occurred about 20 minutes after the mass shooting. Authorities said that a gunman entered Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio and was disarmed by people inside the venue before he fled the scene.
Luna said during the press conference that the two incidents are believed to be connected.
