Half Moon Bay shooting: 7 dead in mass killing incident
A suspect has been taken into custody and identified as 67-year-old Zhao Chunli.
Half Moon Bay shooting: Four dead in mass killing, report says
archived 24 Jan 2023 02:07:11 UTC
A man opened fire on people at two separate locations in Half Moon Bay on Monday afternoon, killing seven and injuring one, according to law enforcement.
When San Mateo County Sheriff deputies arrived to the scene on the 12700 block of Cabrillo Highway shortly before 2:30 p.m., they found four people shot dead. They transported a fifth victim to Stanford Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, then found three more people dead from gunshot wounds at a nearby location, according to a statement from Sheriff’s Captain Eamonn Allen.
Investigators identified the suspect as 67-year-old Zhao Chunli. Two hours after the incident, a deputy glimpsed Chunli’s car in the parking lot of the Half Moon Bay Sheriff’s substation, where he was peacefully taken into custody. Deputies said they found the weapon used in the incident inside his car.
“There is no current outstanding threat to the community,” Allen said in the statement. The sheriff opened a family reunification center at IDES Hall on 735 Main Street.
Councilwoman Debbie Ruddock told NBC Bay Area that the victims were Chinese farmworkers.
One of the locations was a local mushroom farm, according to Half Moon Bay City Councilmember Joaquin Jimenez, is also the program director of ALAS, a nonprofit that serves farmworkers.
“It’s very upsetting,” Jimenez said.
Crime scene technicians were processing a location around the Spanish Town Shops Center just off Highway 92.
The burst of violence occurred one day after a separate mass shooting in Monterey Park, California. Public officials and advocates against gun violence still reeling from the deaths of 10 at Monterey Park during the Lunar New Year were quick to condemn the bloodshed in Half Moon Bay Monday.
“First Monterey Park and now Half Moon Bay,” San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said in a statement. “Enough is enough. How many more must die?”
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo commended the sheriff for quickly arresting a suspect as developments quickly unfolded at the two crimes scenes.
“Half Moon Bay is a beloved and tight-knit community, and we all stand with them and the families of the victims during this dark hour,” she said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
