CNN
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A suspect in the Half Moon Bay, Calif., mass shooting was charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the deadliest attack in San Mateo County history, district attorneys said.
“This category is far beyond anything we’ve ever dealt with,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaff. “We’re sorry that we’ve joined the country in having to deal with this list of counties.”
The suspect — identified as Chunli Zhao, 66 — was charged with shooting and killing four people, an employee, at a mushroom farm on Monday and three others at a nearby farm, authorities said. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said the suspects were “co-workers or former co-workers” of each of the victims at the shooting scene, and the evidence suggested the attack was an incident of workplace violence.
As the investigation continues, the sense of peace in the Half Moon Bay community has been “destroyed by the senseless deaths,” said California Assembly member Mark Berman, noting that there are workplace divisions and relationship divisions around the world.
“But it’s only in America that these divisions often end in mass shootings,” Berman added, promising that the state would do everything possible to further reduce such incidents.
The attack marked the second mass shooting in California in just 48 hours. Investigators in the South are still piecing together what led to the mass shooting of 11 people in Monterey Park, California, on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, new details emerged in Yakima, Wash., less than a day after the Half Moon Bay shooting that left three people dead at or near a Circle K convenience store. The shooter’s mother called police within hours of the attack, saying she believed her son was involved in the shooting, according to Wednesday’s court documents.
Here are some other key developments from the recent shootings:
- This semi-automatic pistol is believed to have been half moon bay Authorities said the suspect bought and owned it legally. The suspect could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty, the district attorney said.
- inside monterey park shooting investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced that officers located a motorcycle registered to the suspect just one block from the scene of the shooting on Wednesday, adding that they believe it may be a ” Alternative Getaway Vehicle”.
- court filing Yakima The police department detailed that the suspect entered Circle K and walked for about 30 minutes before returning and opening fire.
“Only in the United States can we see this kind of carnage, this chaos, this destruction of communities and lives,” the California governor said. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday called for federal action on gun safety laws.
There have been more mass shootings in the United States than there are days this year.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States will record 40 mass shootings in 2023 — more than at this point in any year on record.
As communities marked by gun violence continue to grieve for lost lives, investigators in different cases have struggled to determine the motives behind the attacks. Here are more details on some of the recent shootings.
Authorities still don’t know what motivated Saturday night’s shooting at the Star Ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, and investigators have so far been unable to establish a connection — including any romantic relationship — between the suspect and any of the victims, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced Wednesday.
Investigators also don’t believe the suspect — Huu Can Tran, 72 — frequented the dance studio over the past five years, Luna said. Three people who knew Tran, including his ex-wife, previously told CNN that he used to be a familiar face at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where he taught informal dance classes.
“It’s frustrating sometimes when something like this happens. It’s so tragic because we try to make sense of it, and it doesn’t make sense. It really doesn’t,” the sheriff added, explaining that investigators are trying to find a motive.
Luna said the gunman fired 42 rounds from a semiautomatic pistol at the ballroom before heading to a second dance studio in the nearby Alhambra, where a civilian rushed him and snatched the gun from him.
The firearm — which sources said was being used to identify the suspect at the time — was believed to be the murder weapon, Luna said. The sheriff added that the gun was not registered in California, but the suspect purchased it in Monterey Park in 1999.
On Wednesday, officers located a motorcycle registered to the suspect just one block from the scene of the Monterey Park shooting, the sheriff announced.
“Homicide investigators determined that the motorcycle was parked there sometime Saturday, just before the massacre,” Luna said. “Investigators believe it was another escape vehicle the suspect placed there.”
Less than a day after the shooting, Tran was found dead in a white van about 30 miles from Torrance. The sheriff previously said he died following a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Eleven people were killed and nine wounded in a shooting at a dance studio.
The coroner’s office identified the victims as: Yu Xiujuan, 57; Jian Hongying, 62; Li Lilan, 63; Mymy Nhan, 65; Mei Daweng, 67; Ling Tom); Yu Wentao, 64; Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Ma Mingwei, 72; Gao Yulin, 72; and Chia Ling Yau, 76.
After the attack, investigators issued a search warrant at the suspected shooter’s home and found “hundreds” of rounds of ammunition and evidence leading officials to believe he was “making a homemade gun suppressor,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Luna) said.
Authorities on Wednesday identified those killed in the Half Moon Bay shooting as Bing Yetao, 43, Cheng Qizhong, 66, Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, Zhang Aixiang, 74, Lu Jingzhi, 64, and Liu Zhishen, 73.
Speaking Tuesday in Half Moon Bay, Newsom said victims were dealing with “a myriad of issues” at the same time, describing conversations with people in the hospital who seemed more concerned about medical bills or losing their jobs because they couldn’t.
“These stories are devastating,” Newsom said.
Zhao made his first court appearance on Wednesday and entered no plea.he was arranged Will appear in court on February 16th.
According to District Attorney Wagstaff, in addition to the murder charge, Zhao faces increased penalties for use of a firearm, grievous bodily harm and multiple murders.
Zhao was previously accused of attempting to choke and threaten to kill another former colleague nearly a decade ago, according to court records obtained by CNN. The records show Zhao was served with a temporary restraining order following the alleged assault in 2013.
Court documents filed by the Yakima Police Department revealed new details about the fatal shooting Wednesday.
According to investigators who reviewed surveillance footage, the suspect, identified as Jarid Haddock, 21, visited the Circle K store around 3 a.m. and walked around it for about 40 seconds without communicating with anyone, court documents said. people to interact or buy anything.
He returned 30 minutes later, this time with a gun, the documents said.
The suspect pointed his gun at a man and a woman and fired several shots at them as he moved in their direction, law enforcement said, adding, “Based on the video, Jared appears to have fired all of the guns from his magazine.” bullet.”
He then removed the magazine from the gun, reached into his bag and retrieved another before approaching the lying victim again, officials said. According to the video, the woman was alive “because her arm was moving,” and the gunman stood beside the woman and “shot her a few more times,” court documents said.
After leaving the store, the suspect ran to a gas station, approached a Chevrolet Tahoe and “fired approximately six shots through the driver’s side window,” hitting the driver, court documents show.
Haddock’s mother called police just after 7 a.m. and said she believed her son was involved in the shooting, according to the document.
The mother told police Haddock had “been using methamphetamine for about three years” but had gotten worse over the past month and had access to several firearms – including a similar one – in the home safe. For “AK-47″ guns. Could have killed a lot of people,” the court papers said.
Police finalized the suspect’s location after a woman who lent him his phone heard him make “several incriminating statements including ‘I killed those people,'” Murray said at a news conference. “.
The suspect later died from apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to police.