Police said evidence showed that Shooting incident at Half Moon BayAn incident in California that left seven people dead and one seriously injured was likely a workplace violence incident.
The only known relationship between the victim and the suspect is that they may have been colleagues.
The shooting took place at two locations on Monday. The first location, a mountain mushroom farm, is where sheriffs believe the suspect, identified as Chunli Zhao, aged 66, was employed. There, authorities found four dead and one injured. The second location was also a mushroom farm about a mile away, where authorities found him three dead.
The victim’s identity has not been released as authorities are still working to notify the family. Five men and two women were killed, Sheriff Lt. Jonathan Sebring told his CBS News in an email on Tuesday. Corpus initially reported that the victims included six men and one woman.
The victim was of mixed Hispanic and Asian descent. The corpus says the injured man has undergone surgery and is in a stable condition.
A spokeswoman, Eamon Allen, said he could not comment on whether the casualties were random or specifically targeted. He also did not share other information that led authorities to suspect it was a workplace violence incident.
“I’d say there weren’t any specific indicators that made us believe he had this kind of ability. It was something he could have done,” Allen said.
Officials said the gun used in the shooting was a semi-automatic pistol and was legally purchased and owned.
Zhao remains in custody after being arrested by members of the sheriff. Halfmoon said an arraignment will take place Wednesday afternoon, and the charges have yet to be determined but will likely include murder charges, the Bay district attorney said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom held a press conference Tuesday at the Portuguese Cultural Center in Half Moon Bay, where he said he had little chance to process. Monterey Park shooting incident on Saturday before dealing with another mass shooting in the state.
Newsom said gun violence was out of control “only in America.” It’s still January 39 mass shootings so far this yearthe governor pointed out.
“The common denominator is these damn guns,” Newsom said. “Gun safety saves lives. The modern gun safety movement started with Ronald Reagan. The right wing should look up to him!”
“Gun safety works. We will not back down from that resolve,” Newsome added. “Where have the Republicans been doing gun reform? They have blocked it every step of the way. Shame on them. You deserve better. You can see the massacre.”
