Gunman kills seven in Half Moon Bay workplace violence.
On Tuesday morning, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus confirmed that 66-year-old Chunli Zhao went on a killing spree in Half Moon Bay, killing six men and two women. Zhao was an employee of one of the farms he targeted and had legally purchased the firearm he used. He had no prior contact with local law enforcement. Officials said that the only known connection between Zhao and his victims was that they may have been coworkers. He was booked into the San Mateo County Maguire Correctional Facility on seven counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The California Terra Garden, operators of the Mountain Mushroom Farm, issued a statement expressing their grief. The incident began with San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies being dispatched to the Mountain Mushroom Farm on San Mateo Road near Highway 1 on a report of a shooting with multiple victims. Upon arrival, deputies located four victims deceased with gunshot wounds and a fifth victim was transported to Stanford Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Deputies then raced to a second shooting scene at another mushroom farm located at 2125 Cabrillo Highway S./Highway 1 where they found three other deceased victims. Zhao drove himself to the substation located between the two businesses and surrendered to deputies and the weapon used in the shootings was found in Zhao’s vehicle.
Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez said the victims included Chinese and Latino farmworkers. The San Mateo County coroner’s office had not yet provided the identities of the people who lost their lives in the shooting. One woman confirmed she lost her partner in the deadly incident. The deadly shooting in Half Moon Bay is the worst mass shooting in the Bay Area since the VTA shooting in San Jose in May of 2021. No motive has been announced in the deadly shooting, which comes only two days after a mass shooting in Monterey Park after a Lunar New Year Festival Saturday night that left 10 people dead and injured 10 more people. On Sunday, Torrance police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies surrounded a white van described as a vehicle of interest at Hawthorne and Sepulveda Boulevards near Del Amo Mall, about 30 miles south of Monterey Park. The suspect shot and killed himself inside the van.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre both tweeted about the latest mass shooting in California. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) said in an interview with CBS News Bay Area that officials are bringing in Chinese and Spanish interpreters to communicate with the families of the victims in Half Moon Bay. Dave Pine, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement that gun violence must stop. As the investigation continues, authorities have asked anyone with information about the shootings to contact the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office at 650-363-4911.
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