California authorities determine six of the seven victims, as US reels from mass shootings and gun violence ‘epidemic’.
The accused gunman in a mass taking pictures that left seven folks useless at two northern California mushroom farms in the US has been charged with seven counts of homicide and one in all tried homicide.
Chunli Zhao, 66, was the lone suspect in Monday’s taking pictures, which authorities described as “office violence”, within the city of Half Moon Bay close to San Francisco.
The fees in opposition to Zhao had been introduced on Wednesday, hours earlier than he was set to seem in court docket for the primary time.
The Half Moon Bay tragedy was the second main mass taking pictures in California in three days. On Saturday, 11 folks had been fatally shot within the Los Angeles space city of Monterey Park amid Lunar New 12 months celebrations.
The San Mateo County coroner’s workplace recognized six of the seven victims within the Half Moon Bay taking pictures on Wednesday, and officers mentioned there have been some migrant employees amongst them.
The victims had been: Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Seaside, 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 hometown was unknown.
The seventh sufferer was “tentatively” recognized, however the title has been withheld as authorities work to inform family members, the coroner’s workplace mentioned.
Servando Martinez Jimenez mentioned his brother Marciano Martinez Jimenez was a supply individual and supervisor at one of many farms. He by no means talked about Zhao or mentioned something about issues with different employees.
“He was a very good individual. He was well mannered and pleasant with everybody. He by no means had any issues with anybody. I don’t perceive why all this occurred,” Martinez Jimenez informed the Related Press information company.
Martinez Jimenez had lived in the US for 28 years after arriving from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. His brother Servando mentioned he’s working with the Mexican consulate to get his brother’s physique residence.
Authorities say Zhao acted alone on Monday when he entered a mushroom farm the place he labored in Half Moon Bay, taking pictures and killing 4 folks and severely wounding a fifth. He then drove to a close-by farm the place he had labored beforehand and killed three extra folks, mentioned Eamonn Allen, a sheriff’s workplace spokesperson.
The fees embrace further elements that might consequence within the dying penalty or life in jail with out parole, however Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a pause on executions in California.
These elements embrace that Zhao used a gun, precipitated nice bodily harm, killed a number of folks and had a previous felony conviction. No further particulars had been supplied on the prior felony.
The high-profile massacres in California — two of the 40 mass shootings the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive has recorded within the US because the begin of 2023 — have renewed calls to curb gun violence, as a number of Democrats advocated for stricter gun rules.
“We’re solely 25 days into 2023 and 1,230 folks have died from gun violence in the US to this point,” Congressman Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, wrote on Twitter. “69 of those deaths had been in mass shootings. That is unacceptable. It’s time for an #AssaultWeaponsBan NOW.”
Democrat Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who represents a California district, additionally known as for motion in opposition to gun violence.
“In the present day we noticed a second of silence for the victims of the Lunar New 12 months taking pictures in Monterey Park,” she mentioned in a social media put up. “However silence, ideas, and prayers gained’t carry again the 11 lives misplaced or ease their households’ therapeutic. We have to take motion and eventually finish the gun violence epidemic.”
