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Suspect in Van Surrounded by SWAT in Torrance Strip Mall Parking Lot is Dead, Officials Say

The man found inside a white cargo van in Torrance was the main suspect in a deadly mass shooting, and is dead, officials said.

Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation say he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Armored SWAT vehicles and law enforcement SUVs surrounded the white cargo van Sunday morning at a parking lot across from the Del Amo mall in Torrance, as authorities searched for a gunman who opened fire at a Monterey Park dance studio, killing 10 people and leaving 10 wounded.

The van, located in a parking lot near Del Amo Fashion Center, matched descriptions of a vehicle sought in connection with the shooting about 30 miles to the northeast in the San Gabriel Valley community of Monterey Park and another incident in nearby Alhambra.

The van was blocked in front and behind between two armored SWAT vehicles in the mall parking lot. A van window appeared the have shattered.

A man appeared to be motionless, slumped over the steering wheel of the van.

He was later identified as the main suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran.

About an hour after the vehicle was surrounded by officers, members of a SWAT unit smashed a passenger’s side window and entered the van at about 1 p.m.

Witnesses said a white cargo van was seen leaving the crime scene late Saturday in Alhambra. Authorities responded to that location, a dance hall, just minutes after responding to the deadly shooting at a Monterey Park dance studio.

“We had a vehicle that was described as a van of interest,” said Sheriff Robert Luna. “And, there’s a van that looks just like what was described to us in the city of Torrance.”

 “Could it be our suspect? Possibly,” Luna had said at a news conference.

A motive was a not yet clear.

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Source: NBC Los Angeles

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