Updated 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29: Chunli Zhao, the man accused of killing seven people at two farms, said he was angered after his boss attempted to charge him $100 for damaged construction equipment, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Mercury News.
Wagstaffe also confirmed previous reporting by NBC Bay Area that Zhao confronted his boss and a co-worker, whom he blamed for a workplace accident, just before the shooting. The co-worker and boss whom Zhao confronted were reportedly among those shot.
Original story, Thursday, Jan. 26: Authorities are currently investigating whether the mass shooting in which seven agricultural workers were killed in Half Moon Bay on Monday was an instance of “workplace violence.”
Workplace violence, defined by the U.S. government as any act or threat of violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening behavior on a work site, is one of the leading causes of occupational deaths in the United States.
But mass shooting events like the one in Half Moon Bay are still relatively rare for work sites, according to occupational health and safety experts, even though shootings have accounted for the majority of workplace homicides in recent years.
“I’m afraid. The truth is, you’re afraid because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Lorena Villalobos, who works at a flower nursery near one of the farms that was attacked.
On Monday, seven farmworkers were killed in back-to-back shootings at two mushroom farms, Concord Farms and California Terra Garden (formerly known as Mountain Mushroom Farm), in the coastal agricultural town of Half Moon Bay.
The suspect, 66-year-old Chunli Zhao, had worked at both sites and was a current employee at the first site he allegedly attacked, county law enforcement officials said.
“All of the evidence we have points to this being the instance of workplace violence,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus told reporters on Tuesday.
The farmworkers killed were Asian and Latino immigrants who lived at their work sites, as did children and other relatives.
Those killed include Zhishen Liu, 73; Aixiang Zhang, 74; Qizhong Cheng, 66; Jingzhi Lu, 64; Marciano Martínez Jiménez, 50; Yetao Bing, 43; and José Romero Pérez. Romero Pérez’s brother, Pedro, survived the attack and is now hospitalized. The ages of the Romero Pérez brothers have not yet been released. A family member told The Mercury News that Jose was in his late 30s and Pedro is in his 20s.
