Authorities arrested 66-year-old Zhao Chunli of Half Moon Bay in connection with shootings at the Mountain Mushroom Farm and Concord Farms on Monday, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said. Here’s what we know about the suspect.
- He was arrested at 4:40 p.m. on Monday after being located in a vehicle in the parking lot of a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office substation. Video footage of the arrest shows Zhao, wearing a cap and a red shirt, being wrangled to the ground by officers and led away in handcuffs.
- The suspect did not actively surrender to authorities; he exited the vehicle and was taken into custody, Eamonn Allen, a spokesman with the sheriff’s office, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
- Zhao was employed at the Mountain Mushroom Farm and is believed to have acted alone in the shootings, Corpus said.
- The motive of the shooting remains unclear, officials said. “All of the evidence we have right now points to a workplace violence incident,” said Allen. Corpus added that the victims and the suspect “may have been co-workers.”
- Authorities recovered a semiautomatic handgun from the vehicle Zhao exited. It was believed to be the only weapon involved in the shootings. The handgun was legally purchased and owned by the suspect, said Allen. Officials did not reveal the make or model of the suspect’s weapon.
- The sheriff’s office is not releasing the suspect’s criminal history, said Allen, while adding that “No specific indicators that would have led us to believe that he [Zhao Chunli] was capable of something like this.”
- Zhao remains in custody and is “fully cooperating” with officials, Corpus said. The charges he faces are yet to be determined and arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 25, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
More on the California shootings
The latest: California has grappled with two mass killings in three days. A weekend shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park left 11 people dead, and seven people were killed in related shootings at two locations around Half Moon Bay.
The victims: The identified Monterey Park shooting victims include a “loving aunt” and a joyful dancer. The people killed in the gunfire were all in their 50s, 60s and 70s, police said. Authorities have not released the victims’ identities in the Half Moon Bay shooting.
The suspects: Police identified the Monterey Park suspect as Huu Can Tran, a 72-year-old man of Asian descent, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday. Authorities arrested 67-year-old Zhao Chunli in connection with the Half Moon Bay shootings. He admitted to the shooting rampage at two farms and said he was bullied.
The weapon: Officers have described three guns they linked to the Monterey Park attacker: A rifle found in his home, a handgun recovered from his van and what they said was a modified semiautomatic taken away at the second dance studio. In the Half Moon Bay shootings, authorities recovered a semiautomatic handgun from the vehicle the suspect was located in. California’s gun laws are some of the strongest in the nation.