7 killed in two related Northern California shootings
Seven people were killed and one was injured in two related shootings in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday, police said.
Authorities said the victims were found at a farm and another agricultural location several miles away.
Police arrested a suspect in the shootings, 67-year-old Chunli Zhao, after he was found in his car in the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Office Half Moon Bay Police Substation, according to the San Mateo County sheriff’s office. Zhao is believed to have acted on his own.
“This is a devastating tragedy for this community and the many families touched by this unspeakable act of violence,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said at a press conference.
Corpus added that investigators believe Zhao worked at one of the facilities, as did the victims.
The one injured victim was transported to Stanford Medical Hospital with life threatening injuries, police added.
The shootings come just two days after 11 people were killed in a shooting in Monterey Park, Calif., following a Lunar New Year celebration. The suspect in Saturday night’s shooting was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday.
"Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in the latest tragic shooting in Half Moon Bay, California," President Biden said in a statement released by the White House early Tuesday. "For the second time in recent days, California communities are mourning the loss of loved ones in a senseless act of gun violence."
Biden added that he has directed his administration to "ensure local authorities and the broader Half Moon Bay community have the full support of the federal government in the wake of this heinous attack."
"At the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting. This time in Half Moon Bay," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a tweet on Monday. "Tragedy upon tragedy."
--Updated at 7:52 a.m.