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The suspect in the mass shooting at a ballroom dance club in Monterey Park, California, once complained that instructors there had said "evil things" about him, according to a friend.
Huu Can Tran, 72, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after police surrounded a white van in Torrance, about 30 miles from Monterey Park, on Sunday.
On Saturday night, authorities said a gunman opened fire inside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, killing 10 and injuring at least another 10.
About 20 minutes later, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio in the nearby city of Alhambra, but people were able to get the weapon away from him and he fled the scene in a white van, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
The motive for the shooting is not clear, Luna said.
But the dance studio where the shooting occurred was one Tran used to frequent regularly and gave informal lessons, CNN reported.
He would visit "almost every night" when he was living in nearby San Gabriel, a friend who was close to him in the late 2000s and early 2010s, told the outlet. It was not clear if Tran had visited the studio in recent years.
The friend, who asked not to be named, said Tran often complained that the instructors did not like him and said "evil things" about him. The friend also said Tran was "hostile to a lot of people there." He was easily irritated and did not seem to trust people, the friend added.
Tran's ex-wife, who asked not to be named, told CNN that she first met Tran at the Star Ballroom about 20 years ago.
He introduced himself to her and offered her free lessons, she said. They married soon after meeting, but Tran filed for divorce in 2005. She said he was never violent to her but could be quick to anger.
Online records show Tran registered a business called Tran's Trucking in California in September 2002 but dissolved it in 2004. A corporate filing in August 2004 said the company had never acquired any known assets or incurred any known debts or liabilities.
Tran had been living at the Lakes at Hemet West, a mobile home park whose sign billed it as a "55+ active living community," the Los Angeles Times reported.
He recently showed up at the Hemet police station saying his family was trying to poison him, two law enforcement sources told the newspaper.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more