San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus confirmed that a 66-year-old man is alleged to have been responsible for the deaths of four individuals at a California mushroom farm. Three others were also killed near the area by the same suspect, who was an employee of the farm.
The sheriff stated, “All of the evidence we have points to this being the instance of workplace violence.” She continued by saying, “the only known connection between the victims and the suspect is that they may have been coworkers.”
The killings mark California’s second massacre in three days involving Asian American victims and suspects. The San Mateo County victims were either Asian or Hispanic, Corpus said.
This is the state’s second occurrence a mass shooting in the span of three days, where both victims and suspects have been identified as Asian American. According to San Mateo County Sheriff, Carlos G. Bolanos, the deceased were of Asian or Hispanic background.
This year in the United States has seen an unprecedented amount of mass shootings occurring, with 39 total shootings in January alone- the highest number ever recorded for the start of a year.
The reasoning behind the Half Moon Bay killings remains a secret, however, it shares some resemblances to the Monterey Park massacre. In that instance, Huu Can Tran, aged 72, shot and killed 11 people out of the 20 he targeted. The shooting took place during the Lunar New Year festivities, according to law enforcement.
The two incidents have connections to the Asian American community. Furthermore, the shooter or person of interest in each incident is of Asian origin and has been older than the average age of mass shooting perpetrators, which is around 33.
Shooting suspect Chunli Zhao was apprehended approximately two hours after the initial police call. He was found in a sheriff’s substation parking lot with a semi-automatic handgun inside his vehicle, according to the county sheriff.
The San Mateo County police encountered four fatalities and one injury at a mushroom farm. Shortly thereafter, they discovered a similar scenario two miles away at a trucking facility in Half Moon Bay, with three more fatalities.