Days after a gunman rushed into a Monterey Park, California dance studio and killed 11 people in a mass shooting, another gunman opened fire at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay, leaving seven people dead and one fighting for their life.
Both accused killers are elderly Asian men, and both shootings took place during the Lunar New Year, though the motives remain under investigation.
The first of Monday's shootings took place at Mountain Mushroom Farm, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Police received a call about an active shooter at the farm and arrived to find four people shot to death and a fifth in critical condition.
Shortly after, three people were reported dead at Concord Farms, less than three miles away. All three had fatal gunshot wounds.
A 67-year-old man named Chunli Zhao, described as a disgruntled former employee, was taken into custody about two hours later after he was found inside his car in the parking lot of a sheriff's office. It's not clear if he was at the station to turn himself in. Authorities reportedly found a semi-automatic handgun believed to have been used in the shootings inside his vehicle.
Zhao had worked at Mountain Mushroom Farm for decades, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said during a news briefing. A motive for the attack is still unclear.
Authorities are still investigating whether the victims were targeted or shot at random.
"This is a devastating tragedy for this community and the many families touched by this unspeakable act of violence," Corpus said.
The shootings happened two days after nearly a dozen people were killed while celebrating the Lunar New Year at a dance studio in Monterey Park outside of Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Authorities said 72-year-old Huu Can Tran went into Star Ballroom Dance Studio, killing 11 people and wounding several others. Around 20 minutes later, he went to Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra, less than three miles away, and began shooting; however, at least two people were able to take his gun away and he fled the scene.
Following a large scale manhunt, Tran was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a white cargo van following a police standoff in Torrance on Sunday. A handgun was recovered from the scene.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, investigators searched Tran's residence and recovered a .308-caliber rifle, hundreds of rounds of .308-caliber and 9mm ammunition, as well as items that lead deputies "to believe the suspect was manufacturing homemade firearm suppressors."
At the scene where the shooting took place, investigators found 42 shell casings and a large capacity magazine.
The sheriff also noted one of the victims was shot outside the dance studio and was found inside a car. Luna said that person was likely shot before Tran went into the studio and opened fire again.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was meeting with the families of victims from Saturday's shooting when he received word of the deadly farm shootings.
"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. Tragedy upon tragedy," Newsom tweeted.
President Joe Biden also addressed the shootings, calling them "heinous" attacks.
"Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured," he said. "For the second time in recent days, California communities are mourning the loss of loved ones in a senseless act of gun violence."
In wake of the shootings, Biden encouraged lawmakers to pass a bill banning assault weapons.
"Yesterday, Senator Feinstein — alongside Senators Murphy, Blumenthal and others — reintroduced a federal Assault Weapons Ban and legislation that would raise the minimum purchase age for assault weapons to 21," Biden said in a statement Tuesday morning. "Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action."
"I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe," Biden added.
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