LONG HOURS

Mass Shooter Reveals Motive for Half Moon Bay Killings

Speaking from prison, Chunli Zhao revealed why he decided to go on a shooting spree which killed 7 people.

The shooter responsible for the deaths of seven people in Half Moon Bay, a small town just south of San Francisco, has revealed his motive for the killings in his first interview from the San Mateo County Jail. Speaking with NBC’s Janelle Wang in Mandarin, Chunli Zhao, who doesn’t speak English, admitted he carried out the shootings because he was frustrated after enduring years of bullying and long hours at the farm he later scarred with gunfire. He worked from the early morning until sometimes 9 p.m. at night, and despite being paid for it, his complaints were ignored by his boss, he claimed. Zhao also said he believes he “suffers from some sort of mental illness and wasn’t in his right mind the day of the shootings.” He bought the gun he used in the attack in 2011 and allegedly “expressed remorse for the killings.” According to the report, Wang has lived in the U.S. for 11 years and has a green card. He said after the shooting, he drove to the sheriff’s substation to surrender and looked in the front lobby, “but no one was there.” He claims to have sat in his car for two hours as he waited for police to arrest him. When he finally saw police swarming his car, he said he sat thinking ‘yes, that's me. Please arrest me already.’ The shooting, on Jan. 23, occurred around 2:20 p.m. at two separate locations: a mushroom farm and an agricultural facility. Seven people were killed and one was injured.