Bloodshed in California

Journalist Zahra

Bandukwala

reports upon ongoing gun violence in The States, turning moments of celebration into horrendous tragedy.

Half Moon Bay (Continued)

murder of six people, including a teenage mother and her baby, at a property in Goshen, central California.

The most recent bloodshed took place at 14:22 local time when deputies were alerted to a shooting in an area of San Mateo County which was nearly 30 miles south of San Francisco. The 66 year-old gunman, Chunli Zhao, attacked a mushroom farm and nearby trucking facility, resulting in the death of four and three victims respectively. An eighth wounded victim was also found at the first location and was quickly transported to a hospital for surgery and is now in a stable condition, reported Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus.

At 16:40 local time a sheriff’s deputy located the suspect, with a semi-automatic handgun which was illegally purchased, in his vehicle in the parking lot of a sheriff’s base in Half Moon Bay and was immediately taken into custody.

The operator of the mushroom farm later confirmed that the suspect had actually resided at one of the two locations attacked. While there were no clear factors or motives behind the attack, this was not the first time Zhao used violence against someone he worked with. One of Zhao’s coworkers, Yingjiu Wang, who also lived with him in a San Jose apartment, wrote in a court declaration that Zhao’s violent behaviour started after he quit his job in March 2013. Wang recalled Zhao marching into his room demanding his salary and when Wang asked him to collect it from the restaurant where they work, Wang was threatened with Zhao saying he would kill him through suffocation.

Zhao was indicted in Redwood City, California on Wednesday 25th January, 2023

By Zahra Bandukwala 6F14, Y12