LOS ANGELES — Two weeks before he went on a shooting rampage at a dance studio in Monterey Park, Huu Can Tran showed up in the lobby of a police station 80 miles away to report some far-fetched allegations.
The 72-year-old man told police in Hemet, a small city east of Los Angeles where he lived in a trailer park, that family members had tried to poison him many years earlier. He also claimed to have been the victim of fraud and theft, according to a police account of the meetings. He promised to return with evidence, but never did.
The odd visits, which he made two days apart earlier this month, offer a glimpse into the troubled mind of the man who opened fire on a festive crowd at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park on the eve of Lunar New Year, killing 11 people and wounding nine others. After the shooting, Tran drove to another studio nearby, seemingly intent on continuing his killing rampage, but a man there wrested away his weapon and chased him off.
