Mass Shooting in California’s Half Moon Bay: Seven Dead; Suspect Held

At least seven people were killed in two related shootings on Monday (local time) at a mushroom farm and trucking firm in California’s Half Moon Bay. The suspect who carried out the shooting is now under police custody. At least one person was injured in the shootout which occurred in the coastal community which lies south of California’s San Francisco.

California witnessed a mass shooting over the weekend as a septuagenarian, Asian American shooter gunned down 11 innocent citizens during Lunar New Year celebrations after he entered a dancehall and started shooting incessantly at those who were attending an event.

Dave Pine, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, told the Associated Press that four people were killed at the farm and three at the trucking business on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, which lies 40 kilometres south of San Francisco.

67-year-old Chunli Zhao was arrested in connection with the shooting and he was one of the workers who worked in the establishment. Pine told the Associated Press that he was a “disgruntled worker.”

The US has now recorded six mass shootings just 23 days into the new year. The report of the shooting first reached the authorities on Monday afternoon and they found four people dead from gunshot wounds and a fifth injured person at the first scene. They later found three people, dead due to gunshot wounds, at a second location about 8 kilometres away.

Captain Eamon Allen told the Associated Press that the police are yet to ascertain the motive for the shooting. He told the news agency that Zhao, the shooter, may have acted alone.

He was arrested by the sheriff’s deputy who found him two hours later inside his car at a sheriff’s station in Half Moon Bay. A weapon was recovered from his vehicle and he was immediately taken into custody.

State senator Josh Becker and San Mateo county supervisor David Canepa apprised the residents of the recent developments. “We’re still trying to understand exactly what happened and why, but it’s just incredibly, incredibly tragic,” Becker was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Footage shared on local news broadcast outlets and on social media showed police taking a man into custody without any incident.

California’s Half Moon Bay is a coastal city and is a tightly-knit agricultural community with over 12,000 residents. The city produces vegetables, flowers and cannabis (in certain areas). The majority of the residents are white and about 5% of the population is Asian.

Pine, while addressing reporters in a statement, said gun violence needs to stop as the state witnessed another tragic shooting while still grieving those dead in Monterey Park shooting. California governor Gavin Newsom was meeting Monterey Park shooting victims when he was briefed regarding the Half Moon Bay shootout.

“Tragedy upon tragedy,” Newsom said in a tweet.

Read all the Latest News here