Seven people died Monday in attacks by the same man on two farms in California, US media reported, citing authorities who said the attacker was taken into custody.

San Mateo County Sheriff Cristina Corpus said during a press conference that the man arrested is a 67-year-old Asian man who surrendered to authorities without violence, and that a gun was found in his car, likely the one he used. His motives are unknown at this stage, Ms Corpus added.

According to the NBC television channel, one more – the eighth – the victim is in serious condition. According to the same source, all victims were Chinese or of Chinese origin Americans who worked on farms.

“The suspect has been detained. There is no longer any danger to the public,” the sheriff’s office said earlier on Twitter.

Half Moon Bay, home to two farms, is located in San Mateo County.

The arrest of the suspect, identified by the Sheriff’s Corps and the media as Zhao Chunli, was made in front of television cameras. A 67-year-old man wearing a gray jacket and hat was pulled to the ground, handcuffed and frisked before being taken away. According to NBC News, he was in his car in the parking lot of the police station in Half Moon Bay.

“One tragedy after another”

The new murders in California were announced less than 48 hours after a 70-year-old Asian man killed 11 people at a dance hall near Los Angeles during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

The governor of California condemned the new massacre.

“(I am) in the hospital to meet the victims of the mass shooting when I am being taken away to tell me about something else. This time in Half Moon Bay. One tragedy after another,” Democratic politician Gavin Newsom tweeted, using the terminology used by the US authorities in relation to attacks with firearms that killed four or more people.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on developments in California, his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter. He asked “federal law enforcement agencies to provide all necessary assistance to local authorities,” he added.

The United States pays an extremely high price for the widespread distribution of firearms on its territory and the ease with which its inhabitants can access them.

In 2021, about 49,000 people died from gunshot wounds in the US, or more than 130 deaths per day, more than half of which were classified as suicides. It was a sad record for the second year in a row, with 45,000 deaths recorded in 2020.

Source: RES-IPE