Seven killed in shootings at Northern California agricultural sites

Police tape is placed near the scene of a shooting Jan. 23, 2023, in Half Moon Bay, California.[AP]

Police in the U.S. state of California said seven people were killed Monday in two related shootings at agricultural facilities.

The shootings happened in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco. Authorities said at a news conference that four people were found dead and a fifth person had gunshot wounds at one site, while another three people were found dead at the second site several kilometers away.

San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus identified the suspected shooter as 67-year-old Chunli Zhao, and said he worked at one of the shooting locations.

Authorities said the suspect was arrested after apparently driving to a police station parking lot to turn himself in. A weapon was found in the vehicle.

Corpus said the suspect was cooperating with investigators, but that a motive was not yet clear.

“We’re still trying to understand exactly what happened and why, but it’s just incredibly, incredibly tragic,” said state Sen. Josh Becker, who represents the area and called it “a very close-knit” agricultural community.

Monday’s shooting followed a mass shooting Saturday in the southern California city of Monterey Park that killed 11 people and wounded nine others.

California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that he was at a hospital meeting with those hurt in the Saturday shooting when he heard about the Monday attacks.

“Tragedy upon tragedy,” he wrote.