Half Moon Bay mass shooting suspect once tried to suffocate co-worker, court records allege - San Francisco Chronicle

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Jan. 24, 2023Updated: Jan. 24, 2023 4:05 p.m.

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Chunli Zhao, the fishy successful the slaying of 7 radical successful Half Moon Bay connected Monday, was the taxable of a impermanent restraining bid that was filed against him by his erstwhile roommate and co-worker. In his 2013 request, Yingjiu Wang told a justice that Zhao had physically assaulted him and made decease threats.

The Half Moon Bay mushroom workplace idiosyncratic suspected of sidesplitting 7 co-workers successful a acceptable of workplace rage had antecedently been accused of threatening to divided different co-worker’s caput unfastened with a weapon and trying to suffocate the antheral a decennary agone astatine different Bay Area job, according to tribunal records obtained by The Chronicle.

In 2013, Yingjiu Wang filed for a impermanent restraining bid against 66-year-old Chunli Zhao, telling a justice his roommate and co-worker astatine a San Jose edifice had physically assaulted him and made decease threats days earlier. A justice granted the order, which is nary longer successful effect. Efforts to scope Wang were not instantly successful.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court records overgarment a representation akin to that of Monday’s wide shooting, the deadliest successful San Mateo County history.

Investigators accidental Zhao changeable and killed his co-workers astatine 2 mushroom farms, portion injuring an eighth employee, successful a “workplace violence” incident. The San Mateo County territory lawyer said helium is readying to record charges Tuesday against Zhao, who is being held without bail astatine a Redwood City jail, wherever helium was booked connected suspicion of 7 counts of archetypal grade execution and 1 number of attempted murder.

Zhao’s erstwhile roommate Yingjiu Wang wrote successful a 2013 restraining bid petition that Zhao had made “threats of making beingness hard astatine enactment and threatening to termination maine if I don’t get him his occupation back.”

In March 2013, Zhao worked astatine a South Bay restaurant. On March 10, according to Wang’s restraining bid application, helium discontinue the job. Over the adjacent week, Wang described successful tribunal records an escalating fearfulness astir his roommate and erstwhile co-worker’s behavior.

On the greeting of March 12, Zhao snuck into Wang’s country astatine their flat connected Greendale Way successful San Jose and asked for his salary, Wang wrote. Wang told him to prime up his checks astatine the edifice since helium didn’t person possession of immoderate checks.

The records bash not accidental if Wang was Zhao’s manager oregon wherefore Zhao would person asked Wang for his paycheck.

“Mr. Zhao said to me, contiguous I americium going to termination you,” Wang wrote. “He past took a pillow and started to screen my look and suffocate me.... While I couldn’t breathe, I utilized each my mightiness wrong the fewer seconds to propulsion him distant with my blanket.”

After freeing himself, Wang said helium called for help. He said different roommate tried to assistance him, but that Zhao had locked the doorway to the country to support others out.

The brace started wrestling connected apical of his bed, arsenic Zhao grabbed astatine his broad during the struggle, Wang said. He yet convinced Zhao to speech peacefully and they stopped fighting. The brace talked astir Zhao returning to work, but Wang told him helium “didn’t power that due to the fact that Zhao quit,” Wang wrote.

Two days later, connected the nighttime of March 14, Wang returned from enactment and went to his flat room to get h2o erstwhile Zhao confronted him, helium wrote successful the restraining bid application. He wanted to instrumentality to work, helium again told Wang.

In a 2013 restraining bid request, Zhao’s erstwhile roommate described an incidental successful which “Mr. Zhao attempted to suffocate maine with his pillow for a fewer seconds.”

“If this can’t beryllium done, this would beryllium a bigger problem, which volition not beryllium good/pleasant for everyone. This seemed to beryllium a menace to maine and the edifice I enactment at,” Wang wrote. Zhao told Wang not to beryllium a unfortunate and permission him nary different choice, helium wrote.

“Mr. Zhao said helium would usage a room weapon to divided my head,” Wang said.

In his application, helium summarized the week of threats and violence: “Making threats of making beingness hard astatine enactment and threatening to termination maine if I don’t get him his occupation back.”

When asked if Zhao owned immoderate firearms, Wang checked a container indicating helium did not know. In California, radical nether a restraining bid — adjacent a impermanent 1 — indispensable surrender their weapons wrong 24 hours. He besides indicated that constabulary were not called to respond to immoderate of the incidents.

A bid of judges extended the impermanent restraining bid — which forced Zhao to enactment 300 yards distant extracurricular of the flat and 3 yards distant wrong the portion — until July 2013. At that time, a justice turned down Wang’s effort to widen it again and fto it expire.

The lad of a antheral who ran a now-closed Cupertino edifice with partners told The Chronicle that Zhao worked for the concern for astir six months a twelve oregon truthful years ago. Zhao was fto go, the employer’s lad said helium learned, aft a co-worker accused Zhao of trying to suffocate him implicit a wealth dispute. The lad had seen Zhao astir Cupertino successful the years following.

In a 2013 petition for a restraining bid filed against Chunli Zhao, a erstwhile roommate wrote that Zhao “said helium would usage a room weapon to divided my head.”

The lad asked not to beryllium identified, and The Chronicle is not naming him nether its anonymous sources policy.

Yoyo Duan, a supervisor astatine a Chinese slope successful Cupertino adjacent the edifice wherever Zhao utilized to work, said Zhao and his woman came successful erstwhile a period for astatine slightest the past 5 years to nonstop remittances to China. The past clip Duan saw them was a period ago.

“He was beauteous kind,” Duan said. “First, I was truly shocked by this news. I didn’t deliberation helium would bash those things.”

Duan said she erstwhile helped construe a elemental security missive for them arsenic they spoke constricted English.

At a Tuesday quality conference, investigators said Zhao utilized a legally purchased semiautomatic handgun to sprout 7 men and 1 woman, believed to beryllium co-workers. They said his rampage began astatine California Terra Garden, formerly known arsenic Mountain Mushroom Farm, wherever helium worked, conscionable aft 2 p.m. connected Monday.

He allegedly walked into the concern connected the 12700 artifact of Highway 92, besides known arsenic San Mateo Road, and opened fire, leaving 4 radical dormant and different with life-threatening wounds. Zhao continued connected to a 2nd installation connected the 2100 artifact of Highway 1, oregon Cabrillo Highway South, sidesplitting 3 people, officials said.

After that, helium allegedly drove to the region sheriff’s substation successful Half Moon Bay, wherever deputies took him into custody aft spotting him successful his car successful the parking lot.

As of Tuesday morning, the surviving, injured farmworker had been upgraded to unchangeable information aft coming retired of surgery, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said.

Corpus said the coroner was inactive moving connected identifying victims and notifying adjacent of kin, which was a situation fixed that immoderate of the victims were migrants. A sheriff’s section spokesperson, Eamonn Allen, declined to merchandise accusation connected whether circumstantial individuals were targeted.

“All of the grounds we person points to this being an incidental of workplace violence,” Corpus said. Officials did not merchandise further details astir a imaginable motive, but Allen said determination were nary “specific indicators” that would person hinted astatine Zhao’s capableness to perpetrate a wide shooting.

Xuizhong Li utilized to negociate the mushroom workplace until selling it a fewer years ago. Li told The Chronicle that Zhao worked for him for 14 oregon 15 months, starting either December 2016 oregon January 2017.

Li, speaking successful Mandarin to a Chronicle reporter, said helium remembered Zhao arsenic a petty idiosyncratic who liked to summation advantage, often astatine the disbursal of others.

“If you gave him a small much advantage, he’d beryllium truly blessed and beryllium bully to you. If helium feels similar helium has been enactment astatine a disadvantage, helium volition clasp grievances against you and disregard you,” Li said.

Zhao would study to Li that different workers weren’t moving hard enough, Li said.

“He said helium cared astir the company, truthful helium would study these things to me,” Li said. “In actuality, those workers were beauteous diligent.”

San Francisco Chronicle Staff writer Claire Hao contributed to this report.

Matthias Gafni, Hannah Hagemann and Mallory Moench are San Francisco Chronicle unit writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, hannah.hagemann@sfchronicle.com, mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @mgafni @hannah_hagemann @mallorymoench

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