The Half Moon Bay gunman accused of shooting and killing seven farm workers in what he called workplace violence years ago – tried to strangle a co-worker.
Chunli Zhao, the suspect in the 2013 mass shooting, has been charged with trying to kill his roommate — a man who was angry that Zhao hadn’t received a check from a job he’d left days earlier, according to the report. San Francisco Chronicle, citing Santa Clara County court records.
According to court documents, Zhao threatened her roommate, Jingjiu Wang, and tried to suffocate her with a pillow after sneaking into her room.
“Sir. Zhao told me he will kill you today,” Wang wrote. “Then he took a pillow and covered my face and started suffocating me.”
According to the restraining order, Wang used “all of his strength” to repel the attack, according to the Chronicle.
Zhao, 66, was arrested on Monday after he shot and killed seven people at two mushroom farms in the small coastal town of Half Moon Bay. He allegedly killed four people and wounded one at the Mountain Mushroom Farm, then shot three more people at another mushroom farm several miles away.
Authorities say the two farms hired Zhao before he carried out the deadly attack.
California’s third mass shooting this month comes days after 11 people were killed in a shooting at a Monterey Park ballroom.
Evidence indicated the shooting was the result of an incident of possible workplace violence, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said. Zhao was arrested after he parked his car at a sheriff’s substation, where deputies removed him from his vehicle.
San Mateo Sheriff Christina Corpus told ABC 7 that the semi-automatic handgun used in the fatal shooting was legally purchased and owned.
Some of the victims were Asian, others were Hispanic, and some were migrant workers, authorities said.
A San Mateo County Sheriff’s Deputy walks up to police tape as law enforcement investigates the January 23, 2023 mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California.
A law enforcement officer tapes the entrance outside a family reunification center after a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California on January 23, 2023.
Advertising
Law enforcement investigates a vehicle parked in the area where a suspect’s vehicle was found on January 23, 2023 in Half Moon Bay, California.
A neon sign illuminates the scene of the January 23, 2023 mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California.
Law enforcement investigates a property after a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California on January 23, 2023.
Advertising
Law enforcement agencies work at the scene of a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California on January 23, 2023.
The shooting scene in Half Moon Bay, California on January 23, 2023.
Police tape covers a crime scene near where multiple victims were found dead during a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California on January 23, 2023.
Advertising
“Communities across California are mourning the loss of loved ones in the second senseless act of gun violence in recent days,” President Biden said Tuesday.
“While we await more details about these shootings, we know that the scourge of gun violence in America requires stronger action.”
In 2013, Zhao’s erratic behavior threatened Wang with a knife just days after the strangulation attempt. According to the court document, Zhao asked Wang to return to her job at the restaurant.
“If it can’t be done, it would be a big problem that won’t be good/good for everyone. It felt like a threat to me and the restaurant I work at,” Wang wrote, according to the Chronicle.
“Sir. “Zhao said he was going to use a kitchen knife to cut my head open,” she said in court documents.
It is not known if Wang Zhao was the manager of the restaurant where he previously worked. The request was granted by a judge, but has since expired, the Chronicle reported.
With post wires
All news on the site does not represent the views of the site, but we automatically submit this news and translate it using software technology on the site, rather than a human editor.
