The 66-year-old farm worker accused of killing seven people at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay, California, is believed to have carried out the shootings over a $100 farm equipment repair bill, authorities said Friday.
Chunli Zhao met with his supervisor about the bill Monday and blamed his coworker for the damage to a forklift Zhao was driving when it collided with the coworker’s bulldozer, the San County district attorney said. Matthew, Steve Wagstaffe. However, the supervisor insisted that Zhao pay the bill.
Zhao then allegedly shot and killed the supervisor, two co-workers, and the wife of one of the victims at Terra Garden. A fifth co-worker was injured. He then went to nearby Concord Farms, where he had previously worked, and fatally shot three former co-workers, authorities said.
Wagstaffe said Zhao had long been unhappy over other work-related disputes, but the reparation bill could have “lit the candle” for the deadly shooting, reported FOX2 KTVU in the Bay Area.
HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA, DEADLY FARM SHOOTINGS: WHO IS SUSPECTED OF CHUNLI ZHAO?
Chunli Zhao appears for his arraignment in San Mateo Superior Court in Redwood City, California on Wednesday.
(Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group via AP, Pool)
Zhao told KNTV-TV in a court interview Thursday that he was harassed, worked long hours on farms, and his complaints were ignored.
The coroner’s office named six of the victims: Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Beach, California; Aixiang Zhang, 74, of San Francisco; Qizhong Cheng, 66, of Half Moon Bay; Jingzhi Lu, 64, of Half Moon Bay; and Yetao Bing, 43, whose place of origin is unknown.
Police investigate the scene of a mass shooting on Cabrillo Highway in Half Moon Bay, California, on Monday.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group via AP)
Charging documents identified José Romero Pérez as the other person killed and Pedro Romero Pérez as the eighth victim, who survived.
ANOTHER SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA LEAVES 3 DEAD AND 4 INJURED IN RITZY NEIGHBORHOOD LA
Wagstaffe said prosecutors did not request bail because Zhao is not a US citizen and has “plenty of reasons to run.”
Zhao, a farm worker accused of killing seven people in consecutive shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms, was charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
(Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group via AP, Pool)
In addition to seven counts of murder, Zhao was charged with one count of attempted murder, enhanced use of firearms, and one count of multiple murder special circumstances accusation.yesWagstaffe said.
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Zhao is due to appear in court on February 16.
Sarah Rumpf of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
