Gunman wanted in SW China

Police in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality have issued an arrest warrant for a robber who shot and killed one person and injured two others on Friday afternoon.

A set of photos of Zhou Kehua, the suspect, provided by Chongqing police. [Photo/cq.cqnews.net]

Zhou Kehua, the suspected gunman, conducted the robbery in front of a bank in Shapingba district of the city at 9:34 am. He took away a yellow handbag from the woman who he killed, said police from the Chongqing Public Security Bureau.

Zhou was born on February 6, 1970 (ID: 510212197002066715). He is 1.67 meters tall and has dark skin, a double-eyelid, thin build and thick eyebrows. There is a 2x2 mm mole on the middle of his right eyebrow, another 1x1 mm mole behind his left ear, and a 5x2 mm white birthmark on his upper lip. He is from Ertang village of Jingkou town of Shapingba district and has a local Chongqing accent, according to police.

The escaped suspect has committed a series of crimes, killed many people, and robbed large sums of cash in Chongqing and provinces of Jiangsu and Hunan since 2004, police added.

The police have also offered a reward of 500,000 yuan ($78,600) for anyone comes forward with information.

Chinese laws ban the possession of firearms, and gun crimes, though rare, usually attract much public attention.

In January, a man was robbed and fatally shot in front of a bank in Nanjing, prompting a large-scale manhunt.

According to police in Nanjing, the suspect had previously used a gun to kill six people in robberies in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, and Chongqing since 2004. Police have not confirmed whether the man behind the latest crime was the same person.