The accused Half Moon Bay shooter who allegedly gunned down seven farm employees — in what authorities called a workplace violence rampage — years earlier reportedly tried to suffocate a co-worker.
Mass shooting suspect Chunli Zhao in 2013 was accused of attempting to kill his roommate — indignant the person didn’t have checks from a job Zhao had quit days earlier, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing Santa Clara County court documents.
Zhao allegedly threatened roommate Jingjiu Wang and tried to suffocate him with a pillow after sneaking into his room, court docs state.
“Mr. Zhao said to me, today I’m going to kill you,” Wang reportedly wrote. “He then took a pillow and commenced to cover my face and suffocate me.”
Wang fended off the attack by utilizing “all my might,” in response to the restraining order application, the Chronicle reported.
Zhao, 66, was arrested Monday after he allegedly fatally shot seven people at two mushroom farms within the small coastal city of Half Moon Bay. He allegedly killed 4 people and wounded one at Mountain Mushroom Farm — after which fatally shot three others at one other mushroom farm several miles away.
The 2 farms had hired Zhao before he carried out his deadly attack, authorities said.
The deadly rampage was the third mass shooting in California this month, unfolding just days after 11 people were gunned down in a Monterey Park ballroom shooting.
Evidence indicated the shooting was the results of a probable workplace violence incident, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said. Zhao was arrested after he parked his automobile at a sheriff’s substation, where deputies pulled him from his automobile.
A semi-automatic gun utilized in the fatal shootings was legally bought and owned, San Mateo Sheriff Christina Corpus said, in response to ABC 7.
A few of the victims were Asian and other were Hispanic, and a few were migrant employees, authorities said.
“For the second time in recent days, California communities are mourning the lack of family members in a senseless act of gun violence,” President Biden said Tuesday.
“At the same time as we await further details on these shootings, we all know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger motion.”
Zhao’s erratic behavior in 2013 also involved threatening Wang with a knife — days after the attempted suffocation. Zhao allegedly asked Wang for his restaurant job back, the court document reportedly states.
“If this may’t be done, this is able to be an even bigger problem, which is able to not be good/nice for everybody. This appeared to be a threat to me and the restaurant I work at,” Wang wrote, the Chronicle reported.
“Mr. Zhao said he would use a kitchen knife to separate my head,” he moreover alleged within the court document.
It’s unclear if Wang was a manager on the restaurant where Zhao previously worked. The request was granted by the judge but has since expired, the Chronicle reported.
With Post wires