California authorities determine six of the seven victims, as US reels from mass shootings and gun violence ‘epidemic’.
The accused gunman in a mass capturing that left seven individuals useless at two northern California mushroom farms in america has been charged with seven counts of homicide and certainly one of tried homicide.
Chunli Zhao, 66, was the lone suspect in Monday’s capturing, which authorities described as “office violence”, within the city of Half Moon Bay close to San Francisco.
The costs 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 capturing in California in three days. On Saturday, 11 individuals had been fatally shot within the Los Angeles space city of Monterey Park amid Lunar New Yr celebrations.
The San Mateo County coroner’s workplace recognized six of the seven victims within the Half Moon Bay capturing on Wednesday, and officers mentioned there have been some migrant staff 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 identify 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 staff.
“He was an excellent 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 instructed the Related Press information company.
Martinez Jimenez had lived in america 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, capturing and killing 4 individuals and critically wounding a fifth. He then drove to a close-by farm the place he had labored beforehand and killed three extra individuals, mentioned Eamonn Allen, a sheriff’s workplace spokesperson.
The costs embrace extra elements that might outcome within the loss of life 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, triggered nice bodily harm, killed a number of individuals and had a previous felony conviction. No extra 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 for the reason that 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 individuals have died from gun violence in america to date,” 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.
“At the moment we noticed a second of silence for the victims of the Lunar New Yr capturing in Monterey Park,” she mentioned in a social media put up. “However silence, ideas, and prayers received’t convey again the 11 lives misplaced or ease their households’ therapeutic. We have to take motion and eventually finish the gun violence epidemic.”
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