Half Moon Bay mass shooting survivor Pedro Romero Perez remembers brother Jose 3 years after tragedy
On January 23, 2023, seven people died when a gunman opened fire at multiple mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay .
The tragedy raised awareness about the poor living conditions many on those farms had been living in.
On the third anniversary of the mass shooting, Pedro Romero Perez is remembering his brother, Jose, who was among the seven killed.
"It was a second that changed my life," Perez said in Spanish. "I lost my brother. That's what hurts me so much."
Perez was the only survivor of the shooting. He was shot five times by the suspected gunman, who is in jail.
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The shooting exposed deplorable farmworker housing conditions. Since then, nearly 50 homes have been built in San Mateo County for farmworkers in a partnership between Half Moon Bay and the county.
In addition, the city is looking into installing a permanent memorial for the fallen farmworkers.
"At this point, we haven't secured any funding for the project, so it's still a process that is underway," said Julissa Acosta, Half Moon Bay Community Services analyst. "We'll determine when the time is appropriate, and once we secure funding, we can probably move forward with the project and go back to city council at the appropriate commissions for approvals."
Perez has been learning to play the accordion and says it's helping him heal. The Half Moon Bay-based nonprofit ALAS has a program that uses music therapy to help with trauma.
And the organization continues to advocate for farmworkers.
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"There's still such a high need for more farmworkers to be able to have access to adequate housing, have mental health services and be able to support them and what we learned also from the mass shooting that this is a need, this is happening in San Mateo County and we need to come together to be able to improve these conditions," said Sandra Sencion, ALAS Farmworker Program director.
Friday evening, a private gathering is planned for those affected by the mass shooting to remember the victims.
Half Moon Bay placed mailboxes around the city for community members to write thoughts and messages for the remembrance. They're being displayed at Mac Dutra Plaza starting Friday.
San Mateo County District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller sent ABC7 News this statement:
"Today, we honor the memory of those we lost three years ago, we celebrate the resilience and strength of the survivors, and we stand in locked arms as a community who together has endured and grown stronger. In the years since the shooting, in light of the workplace conditions it exposed, we inspected all of the farmworker and ranch hand housing in the County, we made interest free loans available to improve existing housing and we built new housing. We created a new County Department available to all low wage workers, where they can report workplace violations. With respect to the perpetrator of these murders, we have trust and faith our District Attorney's office justice will prevail."
