Motive behind Half Moon Bay mass shooting detailed in new lawsuit

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KRON) — A migrant farmworker who survived the deadliest mass shooting in San Mateo County’s history filed a lawsuit against the owners of a mushroom farm where the January 23, 2023 killings unfolded.

Pedro Felix Romero Perez, 24, is the lone survivor of the tragedy. He survived despite being shot five times: once in the face, twice in the stomach, once in the elbow, and once in the hip. Pedro saw his brother, Jose Romero Perez, die from gunshot wounds.

Jose is survived by his wife and four children. Pedro and Jose’s family filed lawsuits against California Terra Gardens, Inc. and farm owner Xianmin Guan.

Chunli Zhao, 67, of Half Moon Bay, is charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Zhao is jailed without bail as he awaits his trial in San Mateo County.

The lawsuits allege that the farm owners failed to take reasonable steps to protect their employees from violence before one of the farmworkers allegedly murdered seven of his co-workers.

Many Hispanic and Asian farmworkers lived at California Terra Gardens, including Pedro, Jose, and Zhao. The brothers lived in a shipping container together, while Zhao and his wife lived in a tiny shack.

Zhao told investigators that he was bullied while working on the farm and he slept with a loaded Glock 17 semi-automatic handgun under his pillow for two years, the lawsuit states. “Zhao also told investigators that he purchased the firearm in response to being bullied,” the suit states.

Prosecutors previously revealed that Zhao was “angry at several co-workers over perceived mistreatment.” The new lawsuit contains more details on the alleged motive.

Zhao turned violent after a “bully” demanded that he pay $100 to repair a forklift, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys wrote in the suit, “On the day of the shooting, one of those bullies accused Zhao of being responsible for damage to a forklift after a minor collision between the forklift and a bulldozer. The bully told Zhao that Zhao would have to pay $100 for repairs even though Zhao believed that the bully had hit the forklift on purpose. In response to this and other perceived bullying and personal grievances, Zhao turned violent.”

The lawsuit also includes new information about how the mass shooting began at California Terra Gardens.

“First, Zhao killed the bully in front of a supervisor. Then he killed the supervisor. Zhao then proceeded to the worker encampment at the farm to seek vengeance upon other
people against whom he held longstanding personal grudges. Zhao faced no obstacles or
deterrents on route to the encampment. After arriving at the worker encampment, Zhao entered the trailer Pedro shared with his brother. Jose was asleep and defenseless,” the suit states.

“Zhao shot and killed Jose with Pedro only feet away. Then, Zhao turned the gun on Pedro and shot him five times. Miraculously, Pedro survived,” attorneys wrote.

The gunman killed four people before he left, drove two miles to Concord Farms, and killed three more victims.

“He killed three other people against whom he held longstanding personal grudges,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

Zhao went on the run and triggered an hours-long manhunt around Half Moon Bay. Several news reporters had gathered at a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office substation when Zhao suddenly showed up, parked his SUV near the news conference, and was spotted by an eagle-eyed deputy. The deputy ordered Zhao out of his vehicle at gunpoint and took him into custody.

Zhao had a history of violence. In 2013, a Santa Clara County judge granted a restraining order against Zhao after he threatened to kill his former boss, court records show. Zhao tried to carry out the threat by covering the victim’s face with a pillow to suffocate him, the lawsuit states. At the time, he was angry about losing his job.

A spokesperson for California Terra Gardens did not respond to KRON4’s request for comment on Friday.

The Perez brothers are represented by attorneys Joe Cotchett, Duffy Magilligan, and Nabilah Hossain, of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy firm. “Pedro and Jose are part of society’s most vulnerable population: migrant farmworkers living in poverty on the margins of our communities. These workers toil long hours in horrific conditions to put food on our tables. The owners have a responsibility to protect them from violence in their homes,” said Magilligan.

County supervisors said the case exposed “deplorable” living conditions on the farms, wages as low as $9 a day, and violence between farmworkers. Pedro and his brother had been living in a shipping container with no running water, no insulation, and no sanitary area to prepare food, attorneys said.

Half Moon Bay mass shooting victims were immigrants from Asia, Latin America

Pedro told reporters on Friday that he thinks about his brother every day. They were inseparable until Jose’s life was suddenly cut short.

Jose, 38, emigrated from Oaxaca, Mexico, to Half Moon Bay with hopes of earning enough money to support his wife and children, according to his family.

“California Terra Gardens profits off the backs of migrant workers like Pedro and Jose, who persevered in the face of unimaginable working and living conditions. Instead of protecting them like the essential workers, California Terra Gardens failed to safeguard them from numerous dangers,” said attorney Nabilah Hossain.

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Just six months before the mass shooting, another shooting happened at California Terra Gardens, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The farm’s manager, 49-year-old Martin Medina, is facing attempted murder charges and is accused of firing bullets into farmworkers’ homes. Prosecutors wrote, “The victim was in his home with his family when he heard (Medina) banging on his front door screaming he was going to kill the victim and his family.”

Some of the bullets struck a trailer where Yetao Bing, 43, lived. Bing was later slain in the mass shooting.

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