Chunli Zhao and the 2023 Half Moon Bay Farm Massacre
Overview
On January 23, 2023, seven people were killed and another man was seriously wounded during shootings at two mushroom farms near Half Moon Bay, California. Prosecutors accused 66-year-old farmworker Chunli Zhao of carrying out the attacks against current and former coworkers. The violence occurred at California Terra Garden, formerly known as Mountain Mushroom Farm, and at nearby Concord Farms.
The shootings were investigated as an act of workplace violence. Authorities alleged that Zhao first attacked workers at California Terra Garden before driving approximately two miles to Concord Farms and continuing the shooting. Four people were killed at the first property, while three others were killed at the second. Pedro Felix Romero Perez survived after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
Chunli Zhao
Chunli Zhao was a Chinese immigrant who had lived in the United States for more than a decade. At the time of the massacre, he worked and lived at California Terra Garden. He had previously been employed at Concord Farms, where several of the victims worked.
Investigators described Zhao as familiar with both crime scenes and with the people he targeted. Prosecutors alleged that the attack followed growing workplace resentment and a dispute involving a $100 repair bill. According to information attributed to investigators, a supervisor had ordered Zhao to pay for damage to a forklift after it collided with another piece of farm equipment. Zhao reportedly believed the collision was not his fault.
Zhao later complained that he had been bullied, mistreated and required to work long hours. These claims were presented as grievances he expressed after the shooting and did not justify or excuse the killings. Authorities said the evidence indicated that Zhao deliberately armed himself and moved between two separate workplaces while attacking coworkers.
The Shooting at California Terra Garden
The violence began during the afternoon of Monday, January 23, 2023, at California Terra Garden, a mushroom-growing operation located off Highway 92 near Half Moon Bay. Emergency personnel were alerted to the shooting at approximately 2:22 p.m.
Witnesses reported seeing Zhao carrying a handgun and confronting workers on the property. He allegedly fired at employees in work areas and near the makeshift residences where some farmworkers lived. Four people were killed at the farm.
Brothers Jose Romero Perez and Pedro Felix Romero Perez were reportedly inside the shipping container that served as their residence when Zhao entered and opened fire. Jose was killed. Pedro was struck by several bullets but survived. He was transported by helicopter to Stanford University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
Other witnesses escaped or remained hidden as the shooting unfolded. Several workers and family members, including children, were living on the property. The presence of families at the farm increased the potential number of casualties, although the children were not physically injured.
The Shooting at Concord Farms
After the first attack, Zhao allegedly entered a maroon sport utility vehicle and drove approximately two miles to Concord Farms, another mushroom-growing operation near Half Moon Bay. Zhao had previously worked at that location and knew employees there.
Prosecutors alleged that Zhao located three former coworkers and fatally shot them. The second attack occurred while law-enforcement officers and emergency personnel were beginning their response to the killings at California Terra Garden.
By attacking two separate farms, Zhao created two major crime scenes and initially complicated efforts to determine whether more than one gunman was involved. Authorities later said they believed Zhao acted alone.
Victims
All seven homicide victims died on January 23, 2023. Five were Chinese citizens, and two were Mexican nationals. The victims were farmworkers or people connected to the agricultural operations where the attacks occurred.
- Yetao Bing, 43 — Killed on January 23, 2023, during the shootings at the Half Moon Bay mushroom farms. Bing worked at California Terra Garden. Months before the massacre, a bullet fired during a separate workplace dispute had entered a trailer associated with him, although no one was injured in that earlier incident.
- Qizhong Cheng, 66 — A Half Moon Bay resident who was fatally shot on January 23, 2023. He was one of the Chinese farmworkers killed during the attacks.
- Zhishen Liu, 73 — A San Francisco resident who was killed on January 23, 2023, during the shooting at one of the Half Moon Bay agricultural properties.
- Jingzhi Lu, 64 — A Half Moon Bay resident who was fatally shot on January 23, 2023. Lu was among the workers targeted during the two-farm attack.
- Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50 — A resident of Moss Beach, California, who was killed on January 23, 2023. Martinez Jimenez worked as a delivery driver and manager connected to one of the farms.
- Jose Romero Perez, 38 — A Mexican farmworker and father of four who was killed at California Terra Garden on January 23, 2023. He was shot inside or near the shipping container where he lived with his younger brother.
- Aixiang Zhang, 74 — A San Francisco resident who was killed on January 23, 2023. Zhang was one of the five Chinese citizens who died in the massacre.
Surviving Victim
- Pedro Felix Romero Perez, 23 — Seriously wounded at California Terra Garden on January 23, 2023. He was the younger brother of Jose Romero Perez. Pedro suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was airlifted to a hospital. He survived but faced extensive physical treatment, emotional trauma and financial hardship following the attack.
Arrest
Following the shootings, law-enforcement agencies circulated a description of Zhao and his maroon vehicle. At approximately 4:40 p.m., officers located him sitting inside the vehicle in the parking lot of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office substation at 557 Kelly Avenue in downtown Half Moon Bay.
Television cameras recorded armed deputies approaching the vehicle, ordering Zhao to the ground and taking him into custody. He surrendered without a struggle. Investigators recovered a Glock 17 semiautomatic pistol from the vehicle and identified it as the weapon allegedly used during the attacks.
Zhao's decision to park outside the sheriff's substation appeared to indicate that he intended to surrender after the killings. His arrest occurred approximately two hours after the first emergency call, preventing the possibility of further violence.
Statements and Alleged Motive
After his arrest, Zhao reportedly admitted responsibility for the shootings during questioning and in a jailhouse television interview. He described workplace disputes, alleged bullying and the demand that he pay a $100 forklift repair bill as sources of anger.
According to prosecutors, the repair dispute occurred after Zhao's forklift was involved in a collision with a coworker's bulldozer. Zhao allegedly believed the other employee caused the damage, but a supervisor directed him to pay the bill. Investigators considered the confrontation a possible immediate trigger for the attack.
Zhao also claimed that he had been subjected to unfair treatment and exhausting working conditions. However, the attacks included people at both his current workplace and a farm where he had not worked for several years, suggesting that his resentment extended beyond the recent repair dispute.
Previous Allegations of Violence
Following Zhao's arrest, reports emerged concerning a 2013 dispute involving a former roommate and coworker in San Jose. The man alleged that Zhao tried to smother him with a pillow during an argument about unpaid wages. He also accused Zhao of later threatening to split his head with a knife.
A temporary restraining order was issued in connection with those allegations. The earlier incident did not result in a criminal history that prevented Zhao from legally obtaining the handgun prosecutors said he used in the 2023 massacre.
Criminal Charges
San Mateo County prosecutors charged Zhao with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The case also included firearm enhancements, allegations of causing great bodily injury and a special-circumstance allegation involving multiple murders.
Zhao pleaded not guilty. On January 23, 2024, exactly one year after the shootings, a grand jury indicted him on seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
In 2025, San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe announced that prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty. California has maintained a moratorium on executions, but capital punishment remains legally available as a possible sentence. Zhao could alternatively face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted of the special-circumstance murders.
The case remained pending, and Zhao had not been convicted as of the latest publicly reported court proceedings. A gag order restricted prosecutors, defense attorneys and others involved in the case from publicly discussing many details before trial.
Conditions at the Farms
The massacre drew national attention to the living and working conditions of migrant farmworkers in Half Moon Bay. Some employees at California Terra Garden lived in cargo containers, garages and deteriorating trailers located on the farm property. Workers at Concord Farms were housed in makeshift rooms inside a greenhouse.
Government investigators later documented problems involving sanitation, insects, garbage, illegal housing deductions, unpaid overtime and other wage violations. The two farm operators eventually agreed to pay workers more than $450,000 in back wages and damages, in addition to civil penalties.
These labor violations were separate from Zhao's criminal responsibility. However, the investigation revealed the poverty, isolation and insecurity experienced by many of the victims and survivors before the shooting.
Community Impact
The killings devastated Half Moon Bay, a small coastal community known for agriculture, tourism and commercial mushroom production. The massacre became the deadliest mass shooting recorded in San Mateo County.
Many survivors lost coworkers, relatives, housing and income at the same time. Language barriers and immigration concerns complicated efforts to provide assistance to some families. Community organizations established relief funds and helped displaced workers obtain temporary housing, food, medical treatment and legal support.
The attack occurred only two days after another mass shooting killed eleven victims at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California. The proximity of the two massacres intensified public grief and renewed debate over workplace safety, firearm access and the vulnerability of immigrant communities.
Legacy of the Massacre
The Half Moon Bay farm shootings were not a random public attack. Prosecutors described them as planned acts of workplace violence directed against people Zhao knew through his employment. The movement from one farm to another demonstrated a sustained course of conduct rather than a single spontaneous confrontation.
Seven workers lost their lives, one survivor suffered lasting injuries and numerous families were permanently affected. The massacre also exposed unsafe housing and labor practices that had remained largely hidden within the prosperous coastal region.
As the criminal prosecution continued, the victims' families and the Half Moon Bay community remained focused on accountability, financial support for survivors and remembrance of the seven people killed on January 23, 2023.
