The average age of a mass shooting suspect is 33, but the alleged gunman in Saturday’s mass shooting in Monterey Park was 72, making him the oldest suspect to carry out such an attack in the U.S.
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 U.S., 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 nonprofit organization 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 organization’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. Law enforcement sources told The Times that detectives were focusing on his prior interactions at both studios, and the possibility that jealousy and a prior relationship may have played a role in the shooting.
