According to a former tenant of the Monterey Park shooter, the 72-year-old “madman” had a grudge against dance instructors, and that may explain why he targeted revelers at Star Ballroom Dance and Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio Sunday.
Huu Can Tran had other reasons to go on a massacre, killing eleven people as they enjoyed the Lunar New Year's celebration, the tenant suggested.
“I think his whole life was going down. He had no job, he sold his property, very few friends, and I believe that he had no close friends. No family, no kids, no job, no money. He was hopeless and desperate.”
Investigators suggested that Tran may have been trying to kill his ex-wife in the bloodshed, but the tenant doesn't believe the shooter was after his avid dancer ex-wife.
“They have been divorced for nearly 20 years. His ex-wife also likes to dance, so, many times, they would bump at each other in the party or at events. I don't think his ex-wife was the cause of his massacre.”
“He always complained that instructors were speaking evil about him or trying to do something bad about him. I'm not quite sure if those things were true, but he always complained. He thought those instructors were not friendly to him, tried to sort of expel him from the group.”
Another acquaintance of Tran, a former neighbor, recalled the shooter as a polite and quiet man who would dress his finest for weekends' dance.
“He was always going out to dance. Otherwise, we didn't see him much.”
