At more or less the same time that it was reported that one of those injured in the shooting last Saturday in Monterey Park (California) had become the eleventh deceased, from Des Moines (Iowa) came the news that two young men were found dead. killed by bullets in an educational center. And yet another armed outbreak was known this Monday in California, in the San Francisco Bay area, which left at least seven dead. Its author is 67 years old and has been detained without incident at the door of the police station.
The first information about the new shooting registered in California, in San Mateo County, about 48 kilometers south of San Francisco, offers the echo of the imitation effect of the one that occurred on Saturday. Then Huu Cann Tran, 72, opened fire at a Chinese New Year party, in a room frequented by Asians. This Monday, Zhao Chunli, another middle-aged gunman, left seven bodies in two different locations on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, Sheriff Christina Corpus confirmed at a press conference.
Councilor Debbie Ruddock told NBC that all the victims are Chinese farm workers.
The double incident on the outskirts of Half Bay Moon began in a mushroom nursery, with four deaths, while the second took place in a transport company with the balance of three deaths, both places separated by less than two kilometers. Another person was injured and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Police did not know the motive for this other killing, nor was the connection between the two scenes clear, the sheriff said. But Dave Pine, president of the county supervisory council, assured that the arrested man worked for one of those businesses. He described Chunli as "a disgruntled employee." However, in subsequent television appearances, he did not repeat that claim, saying the reasons were unknown.
The sheriff expressed the belief that the detainee, a Half Moon Bay resident, was a worker at one of those businesses. She also showed her dismay that children were present at the scene of the shootings.
Chunli was found in his car in the parking lot of a county sheriff's department office. Everything indicates that he was going to turn himself in, said the police chief. She said they knew what vehicle they were looking for and his license plate. Suddenly, the deputy sheriff observed that this car was parked in the parking lot of the barracks.
“He has been arrested without incident and the weapon was located inside his vehicle,” Sheriff Corpus stressed. They had no data at the time on whether the weapon, a semi-automatic pistol, was purchased legally. The cameras captured how they reduced and introduced the alleged gunman to the police stations. "There is no danger to the community," insisted the Corpus chief, thus ruling out possible accomplices.
“We are broken by this tragedy,” Pine confessed. “We haven't even had time to mourn those we lost in the terrible Monterey Park shooting,” he added. Then, at the press conference with Sheriff Corpus, Pine made a verdict regarding the situation in the United States. “Ultimately, there are simply too many weapons and this has to be changed. This is not an acceptable way for modern society to deal with its affairs”, he added.
"Two hours ago I joined my colleagues at the Capitol (in Sacramento, the Californian capital) in a vigil for the victims of Monterey and, without time to mourn them, we already have another mass shooting," lamented state legislator Marc Berman. There were more voices that reiterated the need to take action against the proliferation of weapons.
This is non-stop, an uncontrolled epidemic, with no ability to deal with it. The Gun Violence Archive organization, which is dedicated to accounting for mass shootings, can't keep up. On the 21st, when the Monterey massacre took place, the most numerous since the massacre of the elementary school in Uvalde, with 21 deaths, which took place last May, the number of incidents with several deaths and injuries rose to 33 in so far this year, that is, in three weeks. This number, at the time of writing that article, has already climbed to 37.
Because just hours before, Des Moines authorities explained another shooting. The enclave where it occurred was an educational center for youth at risk, the program called Stars Right Here. Police responded to an emergency call just before 1pm when shots were fired.
"When accessing the place, the agents carried out cardiovascular resuscitation practices until the doctors arrived and transferred the victims to the hospital," explained Sergeant Paul Parizek, a spokesman for the body. The two students were declared dead, while a teacher was admitted with a very serious diagnosis.
"The incident was definitely targeted, it was not random, there was nothing casual," Parizek remarked.
The perpetrators fled, but police had a description of the vehicle they fled with. That car was detected about 20 minutes later about four miles from the school, according to the police spokesman.
Two of the occupants remained in the vehicle, while a third started to run. The uniformed officers found him with the help of the dogs, which marked the escape route. The police did not offer the identities or the ages of the deceased or the alleged attackers. And neither, despite talking that it was an intentional crime, did they clarify the reason for the shooting. “We still have to investigate it,” insisted Parizek.
“The school is designed to help the kids who need it most,” the spokesperson said. This educational program was exported to Des Moines from Chicago a couple of decades ago, where students lived in a world of gangs and violence before discovering that music and other activities could help them get out of all that horror.
