A man who is said to have killed ten people and then himself near Los Angeles on Saturday has now been identified, according to local authorities.
The incident happened during a Chinese New Year celebration in Monterey Park. The suspect is a 72-year-old man who was carrying a pistol, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference. However, the motive is not yet known. “We want to know, we want to know how something so horrible can happen,” Luna said.
The sheriff said the man pointed a handgun at himself Sunday morning when police approached a white pickup truck he was driving about 21 miles from the Monterey Park shooting scene.
Second incident in neighboring town
Five of the victims were male and five were female, Luna said. Their identities have not been disclosed. Another 10 people were shot and seven remain hospitalized with at least one person in critical condition, authorities said.
The police department released images of the suspect, apparently from surveillance cameras, showing him wearing glasses, a dark jacket and a dark hat with a white stripe.
Luna confirmed the man was involved in another incident at a dance hall in the neighboring city of Alhambra about 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting. At the second venue, witnesses said the man walked in with a pistol in his hand, which was able to be grabbed by the diners. No one was shot and the man fled, Luna said.
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