▲ Full Associated Press photo courtesy of the Bay Area Newsgroup Yonhap News
The man in the photo is Zhao Chun-li (66), a Chinese man who killed seven people on the 23rd (local time) by shooting at a mushroom farm and two nearby farms in Half Moon Bay, a suburb of San Francisco, California, USA. The photo was taken two days after the crime, when he appeared at the San Mateo Courthouse in Redwood City for an admissions examination.
However, Zhao, who took the lives of many people in a mass shooting, readily admitted to all the crimes through an interview in prison and left a word of regret. He also confessed that the constant bullying and bullying from his colleagues was the motive for the crime.
The interview of a gunman in prison is very unusual. He is detained at the San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City, and admitted to all charges of killing seven people and attempting to kill another through an in-prison interview released on the 26th through NBC’s KNTV.
The reporter who interviewed him, Zanelli Wang, also appears to be of Chinese descent. Zhao did not speak English at all, so the interview lasted about 15 minutes in Mandarin. Cameras are not allowed inside the prison. Recording is not allowed, so you can’t even hear his voice. Reporter Wang’s message alone filled the interview article.
When Reporter Wang asked if he had any regrets, Zhao replied with just one word, “Yes.” He confided that he had a hard time with mental illness, and that was how reporter Wang looked. He couldn’t look straight at things and wanted to be evaluated by a doctor. He said, “He said he was out of his mind.”
When reporter Wang asked if he should have reported it to the judicial authorities if he had been bullied and treated like that, he replied, “It’s true,” and confessed that he was “forced to work long hours from early morning until sometimes until 9 p.m.” Reporter Wang reported that “he was paid for overtime, but the supervisor turned away when he complained about working too long on the farm.”
Authorities found that Zhao had legally purchased a Luger semi-automatic pistol and used it at Mountain Mushroom Farm and Concord Farm to commit the crime. Zhao has lived in the US for at least 10 years, but he holds Chinese nationality. Five of the victims were Chinese nationals, the Chinese consulate in San Francisco said.
He told reporter Wang that he had a green card and had purchased the handgun in 2021 or so and had “no problems buying it in stores.”
Zhao was arrested hours after the crime while driving a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and parked in front of the local sheriff’s office. He tried to turn himself in, but he waited for two hours and no one showed up in the lobby, so he said he was waiting in the car.
Suddenly, a police officer appeared and started taking license plates. He said to himself, ‘Yes, it’s me. please arrest me I should have done it earlier,’ he said.
The interview in prison was aired a day later, after prosecutors indicted him, saying workplace violence was the motive for the crime. According to the indictment, Zhao lived and worked at the mountain mushroom farm where he committed the first crime. The location of the second crime, Concord Farm, was where he used to work. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said Zhao was very cooperative with the investigation.
In an article posted on its website on the 26th, the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco said, “I was deeply shocked and deeply saddened by the serious shooting incident.” We strongly condemn this incident of gun violence.”
However, this terrible tragedy occurred while Chinese agricultural workers were harassing and bullying each other. For the Chinese consulate, it became a somewhat embarrassing situation.
Meanwhile, according to local media reports that have visited the two crime scenes, the housing conditions of the farms where these Chinese workers live are terribly poor. In fact, the poor treatment and living environment of foreigners who came to rural and rural areas in Korea as seasonal workers has been pointed out as a problem several times. We too can continue to neglect these problems until we encounter this devastating tragedy.
Lim Byung-seon Senior Reporter