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2023 Half Moon Bay shootings

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2023 Half Moon Bay shootings
Part of mass shootings in the United States
Location of Half Moon Bay within California
Half Moon Bay, California
Map
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3km
2miles
San Mateo County Sheriff's Office substation
Sheriff's Office substation
Concord Farm
Concord Farm
Mountain Mushroom Farm
Mountain Mushroom Farm
Half Moon Bay shootings
LocationHalf Moon Bay, California, U.S.
DateJanuary 23, 2023 (2023-01-23)
c. 2:20 p.m. (PST)
Attack type
Mass shooting, workplace violence, spree killing
WeaponSemi-automatic pistol
Deaths7
Injured1

On January 23, 2023, a spree killer opened fire at two nearby farms in Half Moon Bay, California, killing seven adults and critically injuring an eighth adult. The suspect, identified as 66-year-old resident Chunli Zhao, was taken into custody when he parked his third-generation Lexus RX350 SUV at the Sheriff's substation in town. Zhao lived and worked at the first crime scene.

Background

Half Moon Bay is a coastal agricultural and tourist city approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco.[1] Some farmworkers who live there, including those at the Mountain Mushroom Farm, are undocumented. This makes it difficult for them to seek help, according to the city's vice mayor.[1]

Shootings

At 2:22 pm PST (UTC-8), first responders were notified of a shooting at Mountain Mushroom Farm located in Half Moon Bay. Upon arriving at the farm, they discovered four deceased individuals with gunshot wounds. A fifth victim who survived was airlifted by helicopter to Stanford University Medical Center near Palo Alto, with life-threatening injuries. As responders were arriving at the scene, the gunman drove two miles (3.2 km) away to Concord Farm in a maroon Lexus RX350 SUV, where he fatally shot three more people.[2] Several children were also present at that shooting scene, but they were left unharmed.[3]

At approximately 4:40 pm, the suspect, a resident and worker at the first farm,[4] was found in his vehicle in the parking lot of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office substation at 557 Kelly Avenue in downtown Half Moon Bay.[5] He was taken into custody without incident, and a weapon was located inside his vehicle.[3] Some of the victims were his coworkers.[6][7]

Suspect

The suspect was identified as 66-year-old Half Moon Bay resident Chunli Zhao (born 1956), a farm forklift driver, former restaurant worker, and a former resident of San Jose. Zhao had been a forklift driver at the Mountain Mushroom Farm beginning in December 2016.[8]

In 2012, Zhao began working at a restaurant in Cupertino.[9] In 2013, after Zhao made threats against a co-worker who also lived in the same apartment, a judge from the Santa Clara County Superior Court granted a restraining order against Zhao, ordering Zhao to stay 300 yards away from the co-worker when outside of the apartment and three yards away when inside the unit. The order was extended several times until it expired in July of the same year.[9]

Reactions

In a press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed that President Joe Biden had directed federal law enforcement to help local authorities during their investigations.[10] Governor of California Gavin Newsom was informed of the shooting while visiting the hospitalized victims of the Monterey Park shooting of less than 48 hours earlier, describing the two events in conjunction as "tragedy upon tragedy."[11][12]

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as ones with four or more casualties (excluding the shooter), the Half Moon Bay shootings as a whole represent the 37th mass shooting in the United States in 2023.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rodriguez, Olga; Daley, Haven (January 25, 2023). "Half Moon Bay Shootings: Workplace violence investigated as motive, Gov. Newsom speaks out". KCRA.
  2. ^ Gaines, Tori (January 23, 2023). "Seven people dead, suspect identified in Half Moon Bay mass shooting". KRON4. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Rubin, April; Jiménez, Jesus (January 24, 2023). "7 Dead in Shooting in Half Moon Bay". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  4. ^ Amir Vera; Aditi Sangal; Adrienne Vogt; Leinz Vales; Elise Hammond; Maureen Chowdhury (January 24, 2023). "7 killed in shooting in Half Moon Bay, California". CNN.com. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "7 Dead, 1 Injured Following Separate Shootings in Half Moon Bay". NBC Bay Area. January 23, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "7 dead, 1 critically injured after shootings at 2 farms in Half Moon Bay; suspect in custody". ABC7 San Francisco. January 24, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Half Moon Bay: Seven dead in another California mass shooting". BBC. January 24, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Half Moon Bay mass shooting suspect once tried to suffocate co-worker, court records allege". www.apnews.com. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b "Half Moon Bay mass shooting suspect once tried to suffocate co-worker, court records allege". www.sfchronicle.com. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "7 dead in mass shooting in California's Half Moon Bay; victims reportedly Chinese farmworkers". The Straits Times. Singapore. January 24, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  11. ^ ""Tragedy upon tragedy": Gov Newsom reacts to Half Moon Bay shootings that killed 7". CBS Sacramento. January 23, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  12. ^ Newsom, Gavin [@GavinNewsom] (January 24, 2023). "At the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting. This time in Half Moon Bay. Tragedy upon tragedy" (Tweet). Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Choi, Annette (January 24, 2023). "This is how many mass shootings there have been so far this year". CNN. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
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