San Mateo County DA seeks death penalty in Half Moon Bay mass shooting prosecution

by Thomas Hughes, Bay City News June 5, 2025June 5, 2025

FILE: A few banners and some stuffed animals are all that remain of a memorial to seven farmworkers who died in a Jan. 23, 2023, mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, Calif. that shook the community. The white ribbons bearing the names of the victims are a barely visible reminder of the tragedy that continues to haunt survivors. (Manuel Ortiz Escamez/Peninsula 360 Press via Bay City News)

SAN MATEO COUNTY District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing seven people and injuring another in a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay in January 2023.

Chunli Zhao, a 68-year-old farmworker, is charged with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder for the shooting, which was carried out at two mushroom farms. Zhao allegedly opened fire on coworkers for what prosecutors have described as a “workplace dispute.”

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