The Half Moon Bay shooting suspect is set to appear in court

KQED | By Marisa Lagos

Published January 25, 2023 at 4:20 PM EST

A row of bouquets placed across the street from the Half Moon Bay city hall in honor of the shooting victims.

The man accused of fatally shooting seven coworkers Monday in the Northern California city of Half Moon Bay is being arraigned today.

66-year-old Chunli Zhao is being held on seven first-degree murder charges and one charge of attempted murder for the shootings at two farms in Half Moon Bay. Authorities say he opened fire at a mushroom farm where he worked, then at a second agricultural site nearby.

In all, five men and two women are dead, and another man was gravely injured.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to the rural coastside community after leaving the site of another mass shooting in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

"Only in America. Number one in gun ownership. Number one in gun deaths," he said. "It's not even complicated. And guess what? This happened on our watch."

Newsom met with family members of the victims and promised the state would "have their backs" for the long road ahead.

This story originally aired in NPR's Newscast.