Monterey Park suspect Huu Can Tran is oldest known mass shooter in US
- Huu Can Tran, 72, is the lone suspect in Saturday’s massacre in Monterey Park, an Asian-majority city near Los Angeles
- Tran is the oldest gunman in the database of the Violence Project, a non-profit organisation that tracks mass shootings
The gunman who opened fire in a Monterey Park ballroom Saturday and killed 11 people is the oldest person to carry out such an attack in the US, according to research.
The deadly shooting was as horrifying as it was rare.
“This is definitely unique,” said James Densley, president and co-founder of the Violence Project, a non-profit organisation that tracks mass shootings, which the group defines as those involving four or more people killed in a public space.
By that definition, 72-year-old Hemet resident Huu Can Tran – the man identified by authorities as the shooter – would be the oldest person in recent history to carry out a mass shooting, and only the second in their 70s to carry out such an attack, according to the Violence Project. The organisation’s database dates back to 1966.
Less unique is the possibility that the shooter was motivated by a personal vendetta, Densley said.
Tran is believed to have frequented Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, where he opened fire on at least 20 people, and the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra, where he was later disarmed.