Five Chinese citizens were killed in Half Moon Bay shooting by Chunli Zhao, consulate says

[Hamartia Antidote]

Five Chinese citizens were killed in Half Moon Bay shooting, consulate says | CNN

Five of the seven people killed in the Half Moon Bay shootings in California were Chinese citizens, China's consulate in San Francisco said Thursday.

www.cnn.com

Police officers detain Chunli Zhao in Half Moon Bay, California, on January 23.


Five of the seven people killed in the Half Moon Bay shootings in California were Chinese citizens, China’s consulate in San Francisco said Thursday.

The consulate strongly condemned the killings, which took place in the San Francisco Bay area on Monday, and sent its condolences to the victims’ families.

“We are in close contact with relative departments in the US and actively monitoring any update of the investigation,” the statement said. “In the meantime, we have gotten in touch with the family members of most of the victims, and will do as much as we can to provide consular assistance.”

The shootings took place in a small coastal community, at a mushroom farm and another site about two miles away. It was the state’s second mass shooting in three days after the Monterey Park attack, which left 11 people dead.

The suspect in the Half Moon Bay shootings, 66-year-old Chunli Zhao, is a Chinese citizen who was not previously known to local law enforcement – though he has been accused of violence before, and was subject to a temporary restraining order after a former coworker and roommate accused him of attacking and threatening him in 2013.

Zhao was arrested Monday, and formally charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder by the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office.

Questions remain about what could have motivated the shooting. But officials said Tuesday the attack was a “workplace violence incident,” and that Zhao had targeted specific people. He was a “coworker or former coworker” of the victims at each shooting site, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office said.

Authorities believe Zhao acted alone.

On Thursday, NBC Bay Area reported that Zhao had confessed to the attacks and said he regrets them, after the channel interviewed the suspect in jail.

The interview was conducted in Mandarin by NBC Bay Area reporter Janelle Wang, with the two speaking face to face for about 15 minutes, Wang said.

Wang said he told her he doesn’t “know what was happening mentally” in the moment of the shootings, and that he wasn’t in his right mind.

CNN has not been able to independently confirm what Zhao said in the interview and has reached out to his attorneys for comment.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Half Moon Bay shooting eyewitness: Alleged gunman Chunli Zhao 'was laughing, he was smiling'

It was hard for Erlin Ortiz and her sister, Miriam Ortiz, to believe the horror that was unfolding in front of their eyes.

www.cbsnews.com

Half Moon Bay shooting eyewitness: Alleged gunman Chunli Zhao 'was laughing, he was smiling'​

HALF MOON BAY -- It was hard for Erlin Ortiz and her sister, Miriam Ortiz, to believe the horror that was unfolding in front of their eyes.

The sisters pack mushrooms at the California Terra Gardens farm where alleged mass shooter Chunli Zhao is accused of killing four people.

They were sitting in their car after their shift when they saw Zhao, who was about 40 feet away, pull a gun from a backpack, shout something in Mandarin to a fellow Chinese farmworker and then shoot the man, they told the Bay Area News Group.

Zhao then shot a second worker, and gunned down the first worker who had gotten to his feet and tried to run away, Erlin Ortiz said.

"He was super red and very angry," she said of Zhao.

Shocked and horrified, Miriam Ortiz's husband, who was behind the wheel, started the car and prepared to drive away.

Zhao turned to look at them, then hopped onto a forklift and headed toward an encampment on the farm where he and the sisters lived. His demeanor had changed, they said.

"He was laughing, he was smiling," Erlin Ortiz said. "We saw him get on the forklift, and when he turned to see us, he was making fun of the situation."

Erlin Ortiz said Zhao, who grew onions for himself and his wife in a little garden plot, would wave and greet them but always seemed serious.

In a jailhouse interview Thursday, 66-year-old Chunli Zhao told a Bay Area NBC news reporter he wasn't in his right mind when he walked into the Half Moon Bay mushroom farm where he worked Monday as be began his killing spree.

Zhao told the television station he had been bullied worked long hours at the farms and his complaints were ignored.

A spokesperson for California Terra Garden confirmed Zhao lived on the property with his wife, but said the farm had no knowledge of any bullying complaints.

Zhao spoke in Mandarin with the television station reporter during a 15-minute interview at a county jail in Redwood City. Zhao said he has been in the U.S. for 11 years and has a green card. He said he has a 40-year-old daughter in China and lived with his wife in Half Moon Bay.

Zhao told the station he bought the gun used in the killings in 2021 and didn't run into any obstacles when making the purchase. He was planning to turn himself in to authorities when he was spotted by deputies who arrested him Monday.

Chunli, 66, made his first court appearance Wednesday. He is charged with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder. The enhancements to the charges make him eligible for the death sentence or life in prison without parole.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, who handled Wednesday's hearing personally, said the Half Moon Bay mass shooting was the largest in San Mateo County's history. As for the shooting investigation, there were several new pieces of information passed along.

"There was a note inside the car," Wagstaffe said. "We're not revealing that at this point. "The question was whether there is any evidence of a copycat of Monterey Park. We believe the answer is no. Not just simply we're not sure. We believe the answer is no.."

Wagstaffe went on to say his office believes that they know a motive in the shooting, but he wouldn't divulge that, saying the focus now is on the prosecution and keeping the details out of the public eye to ensure a fair trial.

 

[FuturePAF]

Pot farmer turf wars are pretty serious, but that’s the case with all illegal trades. High risk high rewards.

 

[casual]

people in the drug business all deserve death. Just fry him on the electric chair and get it over with.

 

[Song Hong]

PRC was quite prone to gun violence and there was a time when guns are very prevalence -- surprise surprise. PRC arm gang once go HK frequently and start shooting spree.

That was the time before 1997 where UK tries very hard to corrupt and masturbate HK judiciary, often freeing gun criminals and award criminals with large amount of compensation.

Big differences between China and US is once CPC made up their mind, guns are quickly ban and enforcement is quick. All criminals are send to firing squad in PRC.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Half Moon Bay mass shooter Chunli Zhao may have been motivated by $100 repair bill

The disgruntled worker charged with killing seven people at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay on Monday told investigators his shooting spree was prompted by his boss demanding he pay a $100 bill…

nypost.com

Half Moon Bay mass shooter Chunli Zhao may have been motivated by $100 repair bill​

The disgruntled worker charged with killing seven people at two mushroom farms in the Northern California city of Half Moon Bay possibly carried out the rampage over a $100 bill for damaged equipment.

Chunli Zhao, 66, told investigators he was incensed by the bill from his boss for damage to heavy construction equipment, sparking his shooting spree, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Bay Area News Group on Friday.

The damage was caused by a collision between Zhao’s forklift and a co-worker’s bulldozer. Zhao insisted that the co-worker was to blame — but his supervisor told him he had to pay.

Enraged, Zhao then allegedly shot the supervisor and co-worker, according to prosecutors.

He then went to the co-worker’s trailer and allegedly killed his wife, before shooting two more employees at the California Terra Garden farm.

Chunli Zhao allegedly opened fire on former co-workers, including his supervisor who demanded he pay $100 to repair a broken forklift.

The accused gunman then drove to a second mushroom farm, Concord Farms, where he previously worked and killed a former assistant manager who he felt wronged by as well as another couple, NBC Bay Area reported.

Zhao opened fire in front of children who had recently been released from school for the day. In an interview with the television station, Zhao detailed years of bullying and long hours on the farms. He also said he believes he suffers from some kind of mental illness, and was not in the right mind the day he committed the shootings.

The alleged gunman told NBC Bay Area he believes he has some sort of mental illness and was not in the right headspace the day he committed the mass shooting.

Speaking in Mandarin from a county jail in Redwood City, Zhao said he has been in the US for 11 years and has a green card. He said he has a 40-year-old daughter in China and lived with his wife in Half Moon Bay.

Zhao said he purchased the gun in 2021 and was met with no obstacles when making the purchase

The coroner’s office has named six of the victims:
Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco;
Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Beach, California;
Aixiang Zhang, 74, of San Francisco;
Qizhong Cheng, 66, of Half Moon Bay;
Jingzhi Lu, 64, of Half Moon Bay;
Yetao Bing, 43, whose hometown was unknown.

The charging documents identified
Jose Romero Perez as the other person killed
Pedro Romero Perez as the eighth victim, who survived.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Accused Half Moon Bay mass shooter once tried to suffocate former co-worker with pillow: report

Chunli Zhao, 66, was arrested Monday after he allegedly shot and killed seven people at two separate mushroom farms in the small coastal city

nypost.com

Accused Half Moon Bay mass shooter once tried to suffocate former co-worker with pillow: report​

The accused Half Moon Bay shooter who allegedly gunned down seven farm workers — in what authorities called a workplace violence rampage — years earlier reportedly tried to suffocate a co-worker.

Mass shooting suspect Chunli Zhao in 2013 was accused of trying to kill his roommate — angry the man didn’t have checks from a job Zhao had quit days earlier, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing Santa Clara County court documents.

Zhao allegedly threatened roommate Jingjiu Wang and tried to suffocate him with a pillow after sneaking into his room, court docs state.

“Mr. Zhao said to me, today I am going to kill you,” Wang reportedly wrote. “He then took a pillow and started to cover my face and suffocate me.”

Wang fended off the attack by using “all my might,” according to the restraining order application, the Chronicle reported.

Zhao, 66, was arrested Monday after he allegedly fatally shot seven people at two mushroom farms in the small coastal city of Half Moon Bay. He allegedly killed four people and wounded one at Mountain Mushroom Farm — and then fatally shot three others at another mushroom farm several miles away

The two farms had hired Zhao before he carried out his deadly attack, authorities said.

 

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