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Half Moon Bay shooter was motivated to kill 7 people over a $100 farm equipment repair bill, DA confirms: ‘shot colleagues after boss billed him for broken forklift’ at California farm northern california
- A Chinese farm worker is accused of killing seven in California on Monday
- The suspect, Chunli Zhao, 66, was furious with his boss at the farm over the bill.
- Zhao was previously accused of trying to split his roommate’s head open.
The Chinese farm worker accused of fatally shooting seven people and wounding another in the Half Moon Bay area of Northern California carried out the massacre for a $100 bill for damaged equipment, the U.S. District Attorney has revealed. town.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe made the disclosure Friday, confirming a claim already made by Chunli Zhao, a 66-year-old forklift operator at one of two farms hit during the attack, in a recent interview. in jail.
The shooting happened last Monday and was the third to hit the Golden State in as many days, leaving members of the small coastal community outside of San Francisco struggling to make sense of the tragedy.
Speaking to a new Bay Area outlet, Wagstaffe finally provided information about Zhao’s motives for carrying out the assault on his employer’s California Terra Garden farm and nearby Concord Farms, two days after he was arraigned in Redwood. City.
Chunli Zhao, a 66-year-old forklift operator at one of the farms hit during the attack, allegedly carried out the attack due to a dispute with his boss over an invoice for damaged equipment.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe made the disclosure Friday, confirming a claim Zhao already made in a recent jailhouse interview.
The revelation comes as investigators had already expressed the belief that the shootings may have been the result of a workplace dispute, with all eight victims listed as “intentional attacks”. It also comes as the partner of one of those killed by Zhao came forward on Tuesday to confirm that his loved one was among the dead.
“I’m still scared and trying to figure out what happened,” the first witness told CNN Tuesday about how he ran for cover with other farmworkers when the suspect opened fire, killing four of his coworkers. He then added: ‘I don’t understand.’
The witness further revealed to the outlet that he had worked with Zhao for about six years on the farm before the tragedy, a claim that was backed up by an employee who spoke to ABC and said that Zhao had worked on the farm for “five to six years.” years’ as a forklift driver.
In addition, after carrying out the first part of the massacre, said the witness, Zhao fled the scene in a forklift, traveling two miles away to Mountain Mushroom Farms to claim three more lives.
The shooting happened last Monday and was the third to hit the Golden State in as many days. Four of the victims were shot at a facility run by Concord Farms and three at Mountain Mushroom Farms two miles away.
Still struggling to understand the tragedy, the survivor said he had considered Zhao “friendly” and “a nice guy” and had no idea what “his problem with these guys” was, referring to the victims.
He added that he initially tried to hide when the first shots rang out, along with several frightened co-workers at the farm, where about two dozen work in total.
Heartbreakingly, he said he saw one of the victims allegedly shot by Zhao outside a greenhouse, but after seeing how much she was bleeding, he realized “it was too late.”
Investigators later found another victim inside the greenhouse, the witness said, adding that both the victims and the suspect had been Chinese men.
The source said that after the shooting stopped, he saw the suspect drive away in a forklift. He asked not to be named due to the ongoing police investigation.
On Tuesday, police confirmed that there were accounts from witnesses and those who knew Zhao that suggested he may have been unhappy.