At least 19 people were killed in three separate shootings in less than 48 hours in California in what a local official called “tragedy after tragedy.”
Seven people were killed in Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, when a gunman opened fire at two different locations on Monday afternoon.
Police said officers were called to the first location around 2:20 pm local time, where they found four people shot to death. Shortly thereafter, three more people were found dead elsewhere, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said.
Hours later, another person was killed and seven people were injured in an incident around 6 p.m. in Oakland, near San Francisco, in a multi-person shootout, the Oakland Police Department said.
The tragedies followed a mass shooting that killed 11 people in Monterey Park, east of Los Angeles, when a 72-year-old man opened fire in a ballroom during Chinese New Year celebrations on Saturday night before shooting himself.
Referring to the recent shooting in Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County Superintendent Ray Mueller said: “Farm workers were injured tonight. Children were present at the incident. This is truly a heartbreaking tragedy in our community.”
Police identified the suspect as Chunli Zhao, a 67-year-old resident of Crescent Bay. He was arrested after driving into a police parking lot, apparently to turn himself in, officials said.
San Mateo County Sheriff Cristina Corpus said Mr. Zhao worked at one of the filming locations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was visiting victims of the Monterey Park shooting in hospital when he became aware of the Half Moon Bay shooting.
“Tragedy after tragedy,” Newsom tweeted.
This was confirmed by Mark Berman, a member of the California State Assembly, who said he was warned about the shooting in Half Moon Bay “before we even mourned the victims of Saturday’s massacre.”
According to the Archive of Gun Violence, there were 38 mass shootings in the U.S. in the first 21 days of the year, describing a mass shooting where four or more people were shot or killed, not counting the shooter.
California Senator Scott Wiener said the “beautiful community” of Half Moon Bay is part of “a tidal wave of gun violence that is choking our country.”
Rural Half Moon Bay has recently been hit by heavy rains that have affected migrant workers in the area, farm worker advocates said. A series of storms in the three weeks after Christmas killed 20 people in the state.
The suspect in the Half Moon Bay shooting is cooperating with investigators, but the motive has not yet been determined, Ms Corpus said.
The woman who witnessed the arrest said she contacted the sheriff for more information because she works on a farm and is concerned about the welfare of farm workers. Reuters reported.
“I came here to find out what I know about the situation and why this happened, and I did not expect to be so close,” Katie McHugh said.
“It was too close to be comfortable.”
Additional agency reporting
Source: I News
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