Seven folks have been reported killed and one particular person critically injured in two associated shootings at a mushroom farm and a trucking agency in a coastal group in northern California, and a suspect is in custody.
The new bloodshed within the United States got here lower than 48 hours after a gunman killed 11 folks at a Lunar New Year celebration near Los Angeles, California, on Saturday night time.
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President Dave Pine stated on Monday that 4 folks had been killed at a mushroom farm and three on the trucking enterprise on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a metropolis about 48km (30 miles) south of San Francisco.
It was not instantly clear how the areas had been related, although Pine stated the suspect labored for one of many companies. He referred to as the suspect a “disgruntled worker”.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office tweeted simply earlier than 5pm native time (01:00 GMT) {that a} suspect was in custody.
“The Sheriff’s Office is responding to a shooting incident with multiple victims in the area of [Highway] 92 and the [Half Moon Bay] City limits,” the workplace tweeted.
“There is no ongoing threat to the community at this time,” the sheriff’s workplace stated.
*Update* Suspect is in custody. There isn’t any ongoing menace to the group at the moment.
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) January 24, 2023
Television footage from the world confirmed officers taking a person into custody with out incident. Aerial tv photographs additionally confirmed cops amassing proof from a farm with dozens of greenhouses.
Christina Corpus, San Mateo County Sheriff, stated the motive for the capturing was at the moment unknown.
The suspect was recognized by Corpus as 67-year-old Half Moon Bay resident Chunli Zhao, who was “taken into custody without incident” after being positioned in his car within the parking zone of the sheriff’s substation in Half Moon Bay, she stated. A semi-automatic handgun was discovered within the suspect’s car.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Los Angeles, stated one particular person critically injured within the capturing was being handled in hospital. According to Reynolds, a neighborhood council girl had described the victims as “ethnic Chinese” agricultural employees who had been working on the mushroom farm and, apparently, additionally on the trucking firm.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office first acquired studies of a capturing simply earlier than 2:30 pm (22:30 GMT) and located 4 folks useless from gunshot wounds and a fifth injured particular person on the first scene. Shortly after, officers discovered three extra folks useless from gunshot wounds at a second location about 8km (5 miles) away, Captain Eamonn Allen stated in a information launch.
The capturing adopted the killing of 11 folks late on Saturday at a Lunar New Year occasion at a ballroom dance corridor in Monterey Park in Southern California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been in Monterey Park the place that bloodbath occurred, took to Twitter moments after information broke of the brand new killings.
“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.”
At the hospital assembly with victims of a mass capturing once I get pulled away to be briefed about one other capturing. This time in Half Moon Bay.
Tragedy upon tragedy.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 24, 2023
“We are sickened by today’s tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Dave Pine added in an announcement.
“We have not even had time to grieve for those lost in the terrible shooting in Monterey Park. Gun violence must stop,” he stated.
“The status quo cannot be tolerated.”
Mental well being providers and counselling is being organised for the group, one other supervisor, Ray Mueller, stated within the assertion.
Statements from the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Regarding Today’s Shootings in Half Moon Bay: https://t.co/0k9PNeP4Qq
— County of San Mateo (@sanmateoco) January 24, 2023
The capturing in Monterey Park marked the fifth mass capturing within the US this month and the deadliest since 21 folks had been killed in a faculty in Uvalde, Texas, in response to the AP/USA Today database on mass killings within the nation.
The US suffered 647 shootings with 4 or extra victims in 2022, in response to the Gun Violence Archive web site.