Last Friday afternoon, January 19, 2024, the San Mateo County Criminal Grand Jury, after hearing several days of evidence, issued an indictment against Chunli Zhao on seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. of first-degree murder for the mass shooting that occurred on January 23, 2023.
In said fatal shooting, Zhao took the lives of seven of his co-workers, in addition to attempting to murder another on farms located in Half Moon Bay.
Defendant Chunli Zhao is also charged with special circumstances of multiple murder. These are the same charges alleged in the felony complaint filed on January 25, 2023.
The case filed on January 25, 2023 (Superior Court Case # 23-SF-001584-A), was set for preliminary hearing on March 18, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. A Grand Jury indictment for the same crimes replaces the felony complaint and makes the preliminary hearing unnecessary.
Defendant Chunli Zhao was arrested on the grand jury indictment charges this afternoon and was arraigned on the indictment this Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 8:45 in the San Mateo County Superior Court, Department 26, Judge criminal Sean. P. Dabel.
The January 23, 2023 shooting at two farms killed seven people and injured one. The deceased were Yetao Bing, 43, Qizhong Cheng, 66, Marciano MartÃnez Jiménez, 50, Jingzhi Lu, 64, Zhishen Liu, 73, José Romero Pérez, 30, and Aixiang Zhang. , 74 years old.
Zhao, 68, was located in his vehicle in the parking lot of a police substation in Half Moon Bay that same day at 4:40 p.m. and was taken into custody without incident, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Officers were first dispatched at 2:22 p.m. to the 12700 block of San Mateo Road to a plant nursery following a report of a shooting with multiple victims in unincorporated Half Moon Bay.
Upon arrival, deputies found four people dead from gunshot wounds and a fifth person was transported to a hospital, the Sheriff's Office said.
Three additional gunshot victims were later found dead in the 2100 block of Cabrillo Highway South at another farm site.
With information from Bay City News.
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