Seven people were killed in two related shootings at a mushroom farm and a trucking firm in a coastal community south of San Francisco, and officials say a suspect is in custody. Photo / AP
Seven people were killed in two related shootings Monday at a mushroom farm and a trucking firm in a coastal community south of San Francisco.
A suspect was in custody, officials said.
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors president Dave Pine says four people were killed at the farm and three at the trucking business on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a city about 50 kilometres south of San Francisco.
The police have arrested Chunli Zhao, 67, in connection with the shooting, Pine said.
The suspect worked for one of the businesses, said Pine, who called the suspect a “disgruntled worker”.
The shooting was the nation’s sixth mass shooting just 23 days into the new year and followed the killing of 11 people late Saturday at a ballroom dance hall in Southern California.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a shooting at the farm just before 2.30pm and found four people dead from gunshot wounds and a fifth person injured. Shortly after, officers found three more people dead from gunshot wounds 8km away, Captain Eamonn Allen said.
The sheriff’s office did not share any information about the connection between the two locations.
The motive for the shooting is not known, Allen said.
About two hours after the first shooting, a sheriff’s deputy found Zhao, in his car at a sheriff’s station in Half Moon Bay. He was taken into custody and a weapon was found in his vehicle. The sheriff’s department believes he acted alone, Allen said.
California state Senator Josh Becker said the shootings were “incredibly, incredibly tragic” for the “close-knit” agricultural community.
Television footage from the area showed officers taking a man into custody.
Aerial television images also showed police officers collecting evidence from a farm with dozens of greenhouses.
Half Moon Bay is a small coastal city with agricultural roots now home to about 12,000 people. The city and surrounding San Mateo County area are known for producing flowers as well as vegetables like Brussels sprouts. The county allows cannabis farming in certain areas.
“We are sickened by today’s tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Pine said. “We have not even had time to grieve for those lost in the terrible shooting in Monterey Park. Gun violence must stop.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that he was “at the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting”.
“This time in Half Moon Bay. Tragedy upon tragedy.”
The keepers found him dead in his enclosure about 11am, at the age of roughly 121.