SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Bay Area News Group on Friday that a report that suspected Half Moon Bay killer Chunli Zhao told investigators his shooting spree came after he was enraged by a $100 equipment bill from his boss was accurate.
NBC Bay Area first reported that Zhao was instructed to pay a $100 bill after a workplace incident, an order he disputed. Zhao, 66, claimed that while he was operating a forklift, the vehicle was struck by a co-worker on a bulldozer.
Approximately 30 minutes before the shooting, according to the station, he vented his frustrations over the bill to a supervisor. After confronting his boss once more, the report says, he shot the supervisor and the co-worker he blamed for the accident.
The new details in the massacre, which authorities described as “workplace violence,” come as Zhao admitted to the killings in a jailhouse interview with NBC Bay Area. He is being held in the Redwood City jail on seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder, with numerous sentencing enhancements. Zhao faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
In an arraignment hearing Wednesday, Wagstaffe also left open the possibility of the death penalty for Zhao. Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a moratorium on executions. However, prosecutors are still free to pursue the sentence.
“We have so much more to learn about this individual, about the victims and their families and the harm that’s been inflicted here,” Wagstaffe said Wednesday.
Zhao’s next appearance in court is set for Feb. 16, where he’s expected to enter a plea.
The suspected shooter’s motives are coming to light after witnesses shared horrific accounts of a massacre that upended life among a small community of Latino and Asian farm workers in Half Moon Bay. A pair of sisters told the Bay Area News Group they watched Zhao initiate the shooting spring through their car’s windshield.
“He was laughing, he was smiling,” said one of the sisters, Erlin Ortiz. “We saw him get on the forklift, and when he turned to see us, he was making fun of the situation.”
David Oates, a spokesperson for California Terra Garden, declined to comment on the alleged dispute over the $100 bill, but he said the company might charge for negligent damages on a “case-by-case” basis.
“In general, it would be an extreme circumstance where somebody knowingly, purposefully damaged something that you’re going to see the company look at that,” he said.
As the investigation into the shooting continues, pressure is mounting on California Terra Garden, where the shooting started over living conditions widely denounced by politicians and squalor. Zhao lived on the farm for at least seven years in what appears to be a ramshackle unit covered by a tarp and propped up on wooden pallets. Zhao along with his co-workers who lived there paid $300 a month in rent, a California Terra Garden spokesperson said.
County Supervisor Ray Mueller toured the crime scene Thursday and called the living conditions “deplorable” and “heartbreaking.”
The state’s labor watchdog agencies announced investigations into working conditions at the farms.
Oates, the company spokesman, denied accusations of poor living conditions and said some of the damages resulted from the shooting rampage and law enforcement’s multiday investigation.
The employees and the families remain at a hotel through Monday as the company and aid groups seek alternative housing. “The current conditions after law enforcement conducted a thorough investigation are not up to standards that we feel comfortable bringing employees and family back,” Oates said.
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