Los Angeles (USA) (EFE).- The US authorities suspect that the shooting that left seven dead in the vicinity of a farm in Half Moon Bay (California) is a case of workplace violence in which the shooter He attacked his co-workers.
“The only known connection between the victims and the suspect is that they could have been co-workers. (…) All the evidence we have suggests that it is a case of workplace violence, “said the San Mateo County Sheriff, Christina Corpus, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Seven people were killed and one seriously injured Monday after two shootings in a Half Moon Bay farming community, 12 miles south of San Francisco, made up of a greenhouse and a mushroom farm.
Four fatalities were found near the farm and the other three in an adjoining place.
According to the county Police Department, the eighth victim was taken to the nearest hospital in the area and is still seriously injured.
Half Moon Bay shooting suspect
The suspect, identified as a 67-year-old man named Zhao Chunli, drove to the parking lot of one of the Half Bay Moon sheriff’s offices and turned himself in minutes after the attacks.
Authorities, who say he acted alone, found a semi-automatic pistol registered to his name inside his vehicle.
Minors witnessed the attack, since several families live on the farm, according to the Police in a press conference on Monday.
“That children have had to witness this is ineffable,” Corpus said then.
Three shootings in California
The attack in Half Boon Bay follows another mass shooting that took place on Saturday night in the city of Monterrey Park (Los Angeles County, California) and left 11 dead after an attack during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The same Monday there was also another shooting in California, specifically at an Oakland gas station -about 65 kilometers from the municipality of Half Moon Bay-, which left one dead and seven injured.
The so-called “Golden State” is one of the most restrictive in the sale and use of weapons. To buy a gun you need to be 21 years old; pass a shooting test; provide identification; and file an application with the Department of Justice.
Likewise, the west coast woke up on Tuesday with another attack, this time in a grocery store in Yakima (Washington state), in which at least three people have lost their lives.
In the first 24 days of 2023, there have been at least 39 mass shootings in 18 different states throughout the United States, according to figures from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that counts daily gun violence events in the United States. country.
Biden calls for a ban on assault weapons
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, asked this Tuesday to prohibit the manufacture and sale to the public of semi-automatic assault weapons after the latest shootings recorded in the state of California.
“Even as we wait to learn more details about these shootings, we know that the scourge of gun violence in America requires more decisive action,” the president said in a statement mourning the deaths of seven people in the Californian town of Half Moon Bay on Monday night.
The United States already banned the sale of assault weapons in 1994, but the law was designed to expire in 10 years and in 2004 it was not renewed.
On Monday, Democratic senators proposed a bill to re-adopt the ban on assault weapons, and another to raise the minimum age to purchase these weapons to 21 years.
“I encourage both houses of Congress to act quickly and send this ban on assault rifles to my table,” Biden said.
Last year, following the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, US lawmakers approved a historic package of measures to limit access to firearms, although they fell far short of the progressive goal of banning guns. assault.
