January 25, 2023: On Monday, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office stated that seven people died in a mass shooting spanning two scenes in Half Moon Bay.

The sheriff’s office said four victims with gunshot wounds were found dead at regarding 2:22 p.m. at a nursery along the 12700 block of San Mateo Road. One more shooting victim was taken to Stanford Medical Centre with life-threatening injuries.

Shortly after that discovery, the sheriff’s office found three more shooting victims dead at another nursery within the 2100 block of Cabrillo Highway South.

Authorities recognised the suspect as 67-year-old Half Moon Bay resident Chunli Zhao. He was taken into the prison without incident at nearly 4:40 p.m. following he was found in his vehicle in the sheriff’s parking lot substation in Half Moon Bay, the sheriff’s office stated. A semi-automatic handgun was then got in his car.

Authorities trust Zhao acted alone, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said.

The victims are trusted to be workers on the properties, Corpus said. Half Moon Bay Councilmember Debbie Ruddock stated that the victims are Chinese farm workers.

“This is a sad tragedy for this community, and this unspeakable act of violence is touching the families,” Corpus stated.

A family reunification centre was created at IDES Hall, 735 Main St. in Half Moon Bay.

The Half Moon Bay shootings come on the heels of a weekend of mass chaos in the Southern California area of Monterey Park that left 11 people dead.

“This kind of shooting is horrific,” Corpus stated. “It’s a tragedy that we often hear about, but today it’s reached home here in San Mateo County.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated that he was meeting with victims of the Monterey Park shot when he learned about the shooting in Half Moon Bay.