Suspect ‘distrusted everyone,’ acquaintance says
The mass shooting suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, filed for divorce from his then-wife in 2005, according to court filings. The judge approved the divorce in 2006.
It appears he worked as a professional trucker for at least 20 years. He was the chief executive officer of a San Gabriel-based business called Tran’s Trucking Inc., established in 2002 and dissolved in 2004, according to incorporation filings.
Tran was found dead on Sunday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a van in Torrance, about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, according to police. No motive for the massacre has been determined. According to law enforcement sources, Tran had no known criminal history.
Tran’s former tenant and longtime acquaintance who wished to remain unnamed told ABC News that the suspect was a regular at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the massacre unfolded, and Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio, where Tran entered with a gun later that night and was disarmed by a good Samaritan.
He told ABC News that Tran liked to dance but that he didn’t have many friends at either of the dance studios.
He said Tran “distrusted everyone."
He added, “I wouldn't say he was aggressive, but he just couldn't get along well with people.”
He said Tran spent his nights mainly alone, but would offer women free lessons in the dance studio. He said that upset the owner and staff instructors, who made their living on paid lessons.
“I think there was tension between Tran and those instructors,” he said.
In 2015, the former tenant filed a small claims case against Tran, claiming Tran owed $750 to him, court records show. He explained that he filed the lawsuit because Tran had refused to pay him his security deposit. He told ABC News that he did not serve Tran in the suit, but he did serve his co-owner of the property, Janine Liu. ABC News reached out to Liu but has not heard back.
*-*ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Ali Dukakis, Olivia Ruben, Alexandra Myers, Laura Romero and Gerry Wagschal