Farmworker who survived shooting suing

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — A migrant farmworker who survived a mass shooting last year at a Northern California mushroom farm has filed a lawsuit against the farm and one of its owners, saying they failed to keep him safe from the colleague who authorities say committed the killings, the worker and his attorneys said Friday.

Pedro Romero Perez, 24, was in the shipping container that served as his and his brother’s home at California Terra Gardens in Half Moon Bay when authorities say Chunli Zhao barged in and opened fire, killing his brother Jose Romero Perez and shooting him five times, including once in the face.

Prosecutors say Zhao killed three other colleagues at the farm on Jan. 23, 2023, after his supervisor demanded he pay a $100 repair bill for damage to a forklift.

They say he drove to Concord Farms, a mushroom farm he was fired from in 2015, and shot to death three former co-workers. Zhao pleaded not guilty during his February arraignment.

The lawsuit by Pedro Romero Perez and another lawsuit by his brother’s wife and children against California Terra Garden, Inc. and Xianmin Guan, one of its owners, say there was a documented history of violence at the farm and that the company failed to take action to protect workers after another shooting at the property involving a then-manager in July 2022.

“All landlords have a duty to protect their tenants from the criminal acts of people who come onto the property,” said Donald Magilligan, an attorney representing Pedro Romero Perez and his brother’s family.