5 Chinese Killed In California Shooting: Consulate

Five Chinese citizens were among the victims in a shooting in the California town of Half Moon Bay, Beijing’s Consulate General in San Francisco said.

The Half Moon Bay shooting on Monday, in which seven people died, was the second of two gun rampages in California in recent days in which a total of 18 people were killed.

"The Consulate General is in communication with the relevant US authorities to follow up on the progress of the investigation," a spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the Consulate General strongly condemned the violence.

Zhao Chunli, a Chinese citizen and 66-year-old immigrant farm worker, was the lone suspect in the massacre at two mushroom farms in the northern California seaside town.

He was formally presented with seven counts of murder and a single count of attempted murder during his first court appearance in nearby Redwood City on Wednesday.

The Half Moon Bay attack came less than two days after another deadly rampage in California in which an elderly Asian gunman killed 11 people at a dance club in Monterey Park.

Huu Can Tran, who police said was of Vietnamese origin, but had lived in Hong Kong previously, shot himself dead the following morning as officers moved in. (Reuters/AFP)

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