The man accused of killing seven people at two mushroom farms in the Northern California city of Half Moon Bay reportedly went on a rampage over a $100 bill for damaged equipment, possibly triggering the fatal shooting .
The disgruntled worker identified as Chunli Zhao, 66, told investigators he was outraged by the bill demanded by the boss for damage to heavy construction equipment for which he was held responsible, prompting their anger and the wave of gunfire, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Bay Area News Group on Friday.
The damage was caused by a heavy collision between Zhao’s forklift and a co-worker’s bulldozer. In the face of the incident, Zhao insisted that the co-worker was to blame, but his boss demanded that he was the one who had to pay. Blinded by rage, Zhao shot his supervisor and his co-worker, prosecutors said.
The suspect then moved into the co-worker’s trailer and allegedly killed his wife before shooting two more California Terra Garden employees, according to reports.
But the tragedy did not end there, as the suspect moved to a second mushroom farm named Concord Farms, where he previously worked and killed a former assistant manager whom he was offended by, as well as two other people, NBC Bay said. Area.
In a television interview, Zhao detailed that he suffered years of workplace bullying and long working hours on farms. Also, she said she believes that she suffers from some kind of mental illness, and that she was not in her right mind when he opened fire.
Zhao, who is being held in a county jail in Redwood City, said he has been in the United States for the past 11 years, and has a green card. He added that he has a 40-year-old daughter in China and lived with his wife in Half Moon Bay. He also said that he bought the murder weapon in 2021 without major obstacles.
Six of the seven victims the coroner’s office named were Zhishen Liu, 73; Marciano Martínez Jiménez, 50; Aixiang Zhang, 74; Qizhong Cheng, 66; Jingzhi Lu, 64; and Yetao Bing, 43. The seventh person killed was identified in charging documents as José Romero Pérez.
With information from the New York Post