SWAT Team Breaches Van Believed to Be Connected to Lunar New Year Shooting; Driver Found Dead from Self-Inflicted Gunshot
An hours-long standoff in Torrance, California with authorities surrounding a white van believed to be connected to a mass shooting at a Lunar New Year party has ended with the driver being found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Los Angeles Times.
At least ten people were killed and ten more wounded in the shooting Saturday evening at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park. Earlier in the day Sunday, news helicopters captured video of Los Angeles Police Department officers and SWAT team members surrounding a white van that was believed to be connected to the shooting, with two armored vehicles pinning in the vehicle.
Authorities had released security camera images of a male suspect but had declined to release his name. So far, they have not confirmed that the suspect in the photos they released is the man who was found in the van.
The video footage Sunday afternoon showed the SWAT team members approaching the van before breaking a window and opening the van door. Some of the video clips aired on television briefly showed what appeared to be a man with dark hair slumped over the steering wheel of the van.
The Times reported that “[a]t least two bullet holes had been visible in the driver’s-side window” just before the SWAT team approached, and multiple law enforcement sources told the paper the driver was confirmed to be dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna told the Times that the man found in the van could “possibly” be the suspect, “[b]ut at this point, if we’re doing our jobs correctly, we’re not only looking at that situation or scenario, but we’re making sure that we’re looking at any and every possibility.”
MSNBC similarly reported that the man found in the van was “possibly the suspect,” according to their sources.
CNN Newsroom weekend anchor Jim Acosta reported on the Times story, and said that the police would have a press conference soon with the latest updates.
Acosta also reported on another shooting at a nightclub in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which the police were calling a “targeted attack” and did not yet have a suspect in custody.
Watch above via CNN.
