Two victims identified in Half Moon Bay shootings - Los Angeles Times

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — 

The shooting rampage Monday successful Half Moon Bay that near 7 radical dormant appears to beryllium a lawsuit of workplace violence, instrumentality enforcement officials said. The gunman allegedly targeted circumstantial co-workers successful the coastal cultivation assemblage successful San Mateo County.

“The lone known transportation betwixt the victims and the fishy is that they whitethorn person been co-workers,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said astatine a quality league Tuesday. “All the grounds we person points to this being the lawsuit of workplace violence.”

According to Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez, the fishy — identified by authorities arsenic Chunli Zhao, 66 — lived with farmers who were attacked successful Monday’s deadly rampage astatine 2 locations.

Corpus said Zhao specifically targeted immoderate of those helium changeable retired of a grievance that authorities are inactive trying to understand.

“There was thing that happened wherever helium snapped,” she told The Times successful an interview.

Bystanders were caught up successful the shooting, she said, but Zhao was looking for circumstantial co-workers during the attack.

For astatine slightest 3 years, the suspected gunman has worked and resided successful trailers astatine Mountain Mushroom Farm on State Route 92, the tract of the archetypal attack, instrumentality enforcement officials said.

Jimenez, who works with ALAS, a nonprofit that provides services and assistance to section farmworkers, said helium instantly recognized the antheral erstwhile a photograph was released by instrumentality enforcement officials.

“He received nutrient and assistance from immoderate of the programs we provided, and helium was ever affirmative successful the conversation,” Jimenez said.

There are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 workers astatine farms and nurseries successful this beach-side community, Jimenez said. Some migrant workers travel harvests, traveling crossed the country, but galore person settled successful Half Moon Bay.

That’s what shocked Jimenez erstwhile helium heard the news.

“He was portion of that community,” helium said.

Salvador Flores Larios, 66, worked for Mountain Mushroom Farm 2 oregon 3 years ago. He said successful an interrogation that helium recognized Zhao erstwhile helium saw quality astir the shooting but didn’t retrieve ever speaking to him.

Larios said employees “worked successful pairs,” and the “Chinos y Mexicanos,” or Chinese and Mexicans, often worked separately.

Five of those changeable during the rampage were employees of California Terra Garden, which bought Mountain Mushroom Farm past March, according to spokesperson David Oates.

“We stay shocked and grief-stricken implicit the senseless nonaccomplishment of 4 of our friends and longtime employees, and we commune for the squad subordinate that remains successful captious condition,” Oates said successful a statement.

Oates declined to reply questions regarding Zhao and his employment astatine the farm, oregon if the institution had been alert of immoderate grievance helium whitethorn person had with co-workers. He said helium couldn’t remark connected specifics, but the institution was afloat cooperating with investigators.

Jail records amusement that Zhao is being held successful San Mateo County’s Maguire Correctional Facility. He was booked connected charges of premeditated execution and first-degree attempted murder, with a sentencing enhancement of discharging a firearm during a convulsive felony.

Dist. Atty. Steve Wagstaffe said his bureau has not determined what charges to record against Zhao but expects to bring charges by Wednesday morning.

“Cases similar this — we’ve ne'er had 1 successful this region of this galore deaths astatine 1 country oregon 1 time,” helium said. “This is simply a lawsuit that is astatine the opening stage; it has a agelong roadworthy to question implicit the coming months and years.”

Six men and 2 women were targeted successful the shootings, Corpus said. The lone survivor, who sustained life-threatening injuries, was taken to a infirmary to acquisition country and was successful unchangeable information Tuesday, officials said.

The San Mateo County coroner’s bureau said it had identified 2 of the victims aboriginal Tuesday but declined to supply much accusation arsenic it worked to find their families.

“As immoderate of the victims were members of our migrant community, this represents a unsocial situation erstwhile it comes to recognition and notifications of adjacent of kin,” Corpus said.

Chunli Zhao is the fishy successful shootings that near 7 radical dormant successful Half Moon Bay.

(San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office)

Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled Tuesday to Half Moon Bay to conscionable with victims’ families, section leaders and different assemblage members. His travel came connected the heels of a sojourn to Monterey Park, different assemblage reeling from a wide shooting that occurred Saturday successful a crowded ballroom and near 11 dead.

Speaking astatine an day quality conference, Newsom held up a fistful of notes — talking points, helium said, from erstwhile shootings. He rattled disconnected the locations: San Jose, Gilroy, Thousands Oaks.

Now, 2 much articulation the list. Newsom said helium “started penning successful Monterey Park, and present I person to constitute successful Half Moon Bay. What the hellhole is going on?”

“This full happening is conscionable a stacking of issues that travel to the fore. But the 1 communal denominator is these damn guns,” helium said. “I person nary ideological absorption to idiosyncratic owning a weapon responsibly, but what the hellhole is incorrect with america that we let these weapons of warfare and large-capacity clips retired connected the streets oregon sidewalks? Why person we allowed this culture, this pattern, to continue?”

Police arrested Zhao aft helium was discovered astatine astir 4:40 p.m. Monday successful his car astatine the San Mateo County sheriff’s substation successful Half Moon Bay, officials said. The limb believed to person been utilized successful the incident, a semiautomatic handgun, was recovered wrong the car. Authorities said it was legally purchased and owned.

Video from KGO-TV showed deputies taking a antheral to the crushed successful the parking lot.

After fleeing from the 2nd shooting scene, Corpus said, Zhao tossed his cellphone retired the model successful an evident effort to forestall instrumentality enforcement from utilizing it to find his location.

Two hours aft the rampage was archetypal reported, officials spotted him leaning backmost successful the spot of his car, parked adjacent the substation.

“I’m not definite that helium was afloat alert that our substation was successful adjacent proximity,” Corpus said.

Vanessa Lomeli was astatine enactment Monday astatine Coastside Tax Consultants, conscionable steps from the substation, erstwhile she and her brag heard sirens. She checked societal media and learned determination was an progressive shooter successful the area. She advised her brag to fastener the gathering “in lawsuit helium comes here,” she said.

The shooter did get and parked his car conscionable extracurricular Coastside, she said.

“We saw a mates cops moving with guns, saying, ‘Get down, get down,’ ” Lomeli recalled, adding that she and her colleagues crawled nether their desks.

“We were conscionable truthful terrified,” said Lomeli, who had to locomotion location due to the fact that her car was blocked by exigency vehicles. “I’m inactive shaken.”

When she returned to enactment Tuesday morning, the suspect’s car was gone, she said.

Half Moon Bay nonmigratory Suki Shay, 78, worries that the metropolis associated with waves, soil and prima volition present beryllium known for the shooting.

“It’s ruined this place,” she said. “It’s ruined our people, our businesses and our name.”

Shay said she worries astir her safety. She moved to the assemblage from Taiwan 40 years agone and is acrophobic radical volition present discriminate against her due to the fact that the fishy is Asian.

The gunman is suspected of opening occurrence astatine 2 agrarian locations astir a mile apart, shooting immoderate victims successful beforehand of children who had precocious been released from school. About 8 kids younger than 10 and 4 teenagers were successful the country erstwhile the archetypal shooting occurred, officials said.

Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, laminitis and enforcement manager of ALAS, which is based successful Half Moon Bay and regularly collaborates with workers connected the mushroom farm, said her squad was providing services astatine the tract astir an hr earlier the shooting.

“Our workplace workers springiness truthful overmuch to us, and to spot this unit happening is conscionable a tragedy,” Hernandez-Arriaga said.

The workers who were affected by the shooting person remained home, arsenic person immoderate of the children that witnessed the incident, the vice politician said. City and region officials are moving with nonprofit groups to supply affected workers with 2 weeks of wages to marque up for mislaid pay.

Meanwhile, investigators are learning much astir the suspect.

The San Francisco Chronicle connected Tuesday reported that a erstwhile co-worker accused Zhao of trying to suffocate him and filed a restraining bid against him successful 2013. Corpus said investigators became alert of that incidental Tuesday, noting that Zhao had presented nary reddish flags to instrumentality enforcement during his clip astatine Half Moon Bay.

The United Farm Workers said successful a statement that it was mourning the nonaccomplishment of the 7 farmworkers and was “heartbroken, angry, and demanding answers.”

“While we did not cognize them, they were portion of the excessively often invisible, yet ever essential, cultivation workforce that feeds America and the world,” the national said. “As workplace workers, and arsenic quality beings, they deserved acold better.”

President Biden said Tuesday that helium and First Lady Jill Biden “are praying for those killed and injured successful the latest tragic shooting successful Half Moon Bay.”

“For the 2nd clip successful caller days, California communities are mourning the nonaccomplishment of loved ones successful a senseless enactment of weapon violence,” helium said successful a statement.

Biden said helium has offered national enactment to section authorities. It is unclear whether helium and Vice President Kamala Harris, who volition question to Monterey Park connected Wednesday, volition sojourn Half Moon Bay.

Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland pledged Tuesday that “all of america astatine the Justice Department, including the FBI and [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], volition proceed to enactment the Half Moon Bay assemblage successful the hard days ahead.

“The Justice Department is committed to doing everything successful our powerfulness to support our communities from the weapon unit that is leaving nary assemblage successful this state untouched,” helium added.

Hernandez-Arriaga stressed the captious relation of farmworkers, who toil successful challenging conditions, and called for much resources, including intelligence wellness support.

“Farmworkers enactment truthful hard for us,” she said. “They springiness their beingness for us, to this job, successful rain, successful atrocious weather, successful crisis, during the pandemic. It’s clip we respond to them with nonstop resources and enactment successful a existent mode that makes a change.”

Half Moon Bay has been reeling for weeks from harm caused by almighty storms.

Corpus said she was arrogant of however the assemblage has pulled together.

“It feels similar the blows conscionable support coming to this community,” she said.

Times unit writers Summer Lin and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.