Society

Police shoot down man with hostage

By Wang Huazhong in Chongqing and Xie Yu in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-22 08:21
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A man who killed his neighbor and took his victim's pregnant wife hostage in Chongqing municipality yesterday morning was later shot dead by police, local officials said.

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The 26-year-old man, who local media reports identified as Liu Yong, took the woman hostage at a community in Yongchuan district of Chongqing.

The man was shot at about 10:30 am after he ignored police warnings and persuasion, local police said.

Prior to taking the woman hostage, Liu stabbed to death her 24-year-old husband named Chen Yonghai, witnesses told China Daily.

Liu's motive remains unclear. Local media quoted neighbors as saying that the man took drugs.

Before the incident, he reportedly knocked on two neighbors' doors to borrow money to buy drugs, but they turned him down.

Chen's home was the third one Liu visited. Neighbors said the two men spoke for 40 minutes before Liu rushed into Chen's room.

Liu broke into Chen's home about 7 am, according to Chongqing-based information portal cqcb.com.

Chen's cousin, Hu Qiang, 25, a coal miner who also owns a shoe shop in the town, said he witnessed almost the entire incident in the Wanshou community of Yongchuan.

"He (Chen) called me at 6:40 this morning and asked me to come to their home," said Hu, who lives in a building opposite Chen's residence.

But when Hu arrived at Chen's house, Chen, also a coal miner, did not open the door for Hu and called through the door, telling him to go away.

Liu reportedly stabbed the homeowner after entering the apartment.

Chen crawled out of the window onto the awning but died there, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"At about 7:30, somebody shouted, 'Your cousin jumped out of the building', and I rushed out of my room, and saw my cousin lying on an awning of the first floor," Hu said.

Hu said he then rushed to his cousin's apartment, broke the door open, and saw the suspect holding a knife to his cousin's wife, who is seven months' pregnant.

"He (Liu) yelled at me 'how dare you come in' and waved his knife at me," Hu said. Hu said he had to retreat after his clothes were cut by Liu's knife.

Hu then called police and the first officers arrived on the scene at 8:10 am.

Police tried to negotiate with Liu until 10:20 am. They also asked Liu's uncle to try to persuade him to surrender.

"He dragged my cousin's wife back to the room, and he crawled out of the window and stood on the awning," Hu said.

"He looked very irritable, and was jumping, and kicked my cousin's corpse," Hu told China Daily.

"He asked reporters to shoot him, but I saw he had no weapons in his hands when he was shot down."

The onlookers said they were not sure if Liu was hiding any weapon in his clothes at that time.

The pregnant woman was cut on her face, arms, and legs, but her injuries were not serious. She is recovering at a local hospital, Xinhua reported.

Yongchuan district is about an hour's drive from Chongqing's city center.

Some residents of the town later said they worry about the lack of police close by.

"Wanshou community has about 4,000 to 5,000 residents but no police are stationed here," an anonymous local official in town told China Daily, adding that the nearest police office is half an hour away by car.

"The public security here is worrying," Hu and several local residents said.

This is the fourth case of hostage takers being shot by police in the southwestern municipality.

On Jan 23, a man broke into a barbershop in Shapingba district and held the female boss by putting a razor to her neck.

Police shot him after they failed to persuade him to release the hostage.

On July 23, a migrant worker was shot dead by police in Changshou district after he kidnapped a man, threatening him with a 30-cm long dagger.

On Oct 26, a young man stabbed his girlfriend's mother to death because the woman objected to their relationship.

He then kidnapped his girlfriend, threatening her with a knife, and was shot down by police in Shapingba district.