7 dead as California mourns 3rd mass killing in 8 days
Seven people were killed in two related shootings Monday at agricultural businesses in a Northern California community, marking the state’s third mass killing in eight days, including an attack at a dance hall that killed 11 during Lunar New Year celebrations, Associated Press reported.
Officers arrested a suspect in Monday’s shootings, 67-year-old Chunli Zhao, after they found him in his car in the parking lot of a sheriff’s substation, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said.
Four people were found dead and a fifth injured from gunshot wounds at a farm, and officers found three other people killed at another location several miles away, the Sheriff’s Office said. Officials believe Zhao is a worker at one of the facilities and that the victims were workers as well, Corpus said. Corpus said officials hadn’t determined a motive for the shooting.
The new year has brought a shocking string of mass killings in the U.S. — six in less than three weeks, accounting for 39 deaths. Three have occurred in California since Jan. 16, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The database tracks every mass killing — defined as four dead not including the offender — committed in the U.S. since 2006.
The killings occurred on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a city about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco, according to Associated Press.
Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez said the victims included Chinese and Latino farmworkers. Some workers at one facility lived on the premises and children may have witnessed the shooting, she said. Corpus it wasn’t immediately clear how the two locations were connected.
The Sheriff’s Office first received reports of a shooting just before 2:30 p.m. and found four people dead from gunshot wounds and a fifth person injured at the first scene. Shortly thereafter, officers found three more people dead from gunshot wounds at a second location nearby, Capt. Eamonn Allen said in a news release.
About two hours after first responding, a sheriff’s deputy noticed the suspect, Zhao, in his car parked outside a sheriff’s substation in a strip mall and arrested him, recognizing the car by its license plate.
A video of the arrest showed three officers approaching a parked car with drawn weapons. Zhao got out of the car, and the officers pulled him to the ground, put him in handcuffs, and led him away. A weapon was found in his vehicle, officials said. The video was captured by Kati McHugh, a Half Moon Bay resident who witnessed the arrest, Associated Press reported.The sheriff’s department believes Zhao acted alone.
“We’re still trying to understand exactly what happened and why, but it’s just incredibly, incredibly tragic,” said state Sen. Josh Becker, who represents the area and called it “a very close-knit” agricultural community.
Aerial television images showed police officers collecting evidence from a farm with dozens of greenhouses.
Half Moon Bay is a small coastal city with agricultural roots, home to about 12,000 people. The city and surrounding San Mateo County area is known for producing flowers as well as vegetables like brussels sprouts. The county allows cannabis farming in certain areas, according to Associated Press.
It’s a majority white community and about 5% of the population is Asian, according to Census data.
“We are sickened by today’s tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Pine said. “We have not even had time to grieve for those lost in the terrible shooting in Monterey Park. Gun violence must stop.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that he was “at the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting. This time in Half Moon Bay. Tragedy upon tragedy.”
On Jan. 16, a teenage mother and her baby were among six people killed in a shooting at a home in California’s Central Valley.
Martyrs' Week begins, tributes paid to Martyr Shashtri
Martyr Shukraraj Shashtri was remembered on the first day of Martyrs Week today. A program was held at local Pachali of Teku where Shashtri attained martyrdom during the then Rana regime for his fight for democracy. The program was organized by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office. Martyrs’ Week is observed from Magh 10-16 in the Nepali month each year in commemoration to all those people who sacrificed their lives to devolve the State power confined to the certain families to the people. Kathmandu Metropolis mayor Balendra Shah, deputy-mayor Sunita Dangol and metropolis chief administrative officer Basanta Adhikari among others laid wreaths on the statue of Shashtri on the occasion. Shastri, who was born in Benares, India in 1950 BS, completed his primary education in Dehradun, India. After he came back to Nepal, Shastri got involved in the movement against the tyrannical Rana regime. He was arrested on the charge of speaking against the Rana rule in a people’s gathering at local Indra Chowk on Mangsir 13, 1994 BS. After three years, he was executed on Magh 10, 1997 BS by hanging from a tree at Pachali. Dharmabhakta Mathema, Ganga Lal Shrestha and Dashrath Chand, the noted fighters for democracy, were executed subsequently on different dates.
Measles outbreak kills one, infects 265 in Banke
The outbreak of measles, an acute viral respiratory illness, has gripped Banke district. Out of eight local levels in the district, 265 persons have been found infected with the virus in five local levels. A child has died of measles in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City. Minister of Health and Population of federal government Padam Giri visited the measles-affected areas of Nepalgunj and met the families of the patients. “The minister met the family member of the deceased. He said he would take a special initiative to take the measles under control in Nepal,” Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City Health Branch Chief Ram Bahadur Chand said, adding, “There is a slim chance of virus spreading as more people than the target group have been vaccinated against measles and rubella. Vaccination focal person of the District Health Office Naresh Shrestha said that six children of Nepalgunj ward-7 were found infected with the virus for the first time on December 27. A two-year-old child of Nepalgunj -5 died of measles on January 4. By that time, only 36 persons were infected with the measles in Nepalgunj. The concerned authority started administering vaccines against the measles from January 6. A person was found infected with the virus in Khajura Rural Municipality on January 8. The authority also started administering vaccines to the people in the rural municipality from January 17. A person infected with the measles was also found in Nainpur Rural Municipality on January 18. According to the District Health Office, 265 persons have been found infected with measles in five local levels of the district. Nepalgunj alone has 205 patients.
Nine killed in mass shooting in Los Angeles area, police say
Nine people were killed in a mass shooting in the city of Monterey Park, California, late on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, Reuters reported.
“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to assist Monterey Park Police Department with a shooting death investigation. There are nine deceased,” the department said in a brief statement.
“There is no additional information available at this time.”
The department said the suspect was male, but it was not clear if he was still at large.
The shooting took place after 10 p.m. (0600 GMT on Sunday) around the location of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held in Monterey Park, U.S. media reported.
Footage posted on social media showed injured people on stretchers being taken to ambulances by emergency staff. Around the scene of the shooting – reported to have been at a dance club – police guarded cordoned-off streets, the video showed.
“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a tweet, according to Reuters.
Tens of thousands of people had attended the festival earlier in the day.
The Los Angeles Times quoted the owner of a nearby restaurant as saying that people who sought shelter in his property told him there was a man with a machine gun in the area.
Seung Won Choi told the newspaper that he believed the shooting took place at a dance club.
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles county, around 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Los Angeles, Reuters reported.
