CHANGCHUN - Police in Northeast China's Jilin province said on Friday that they have arrested a man who gunned down a random pedestrian just to test the lethal power of a homemade weapon.

Jia Baodong, 41, was arrested on Sunday, 16 days after he shot dead a 40-year-old waitress who happened to walk into his sight as he tried to test the nail-gun-turned weapon in the city of Dunhua, said an official with the city's police bureau.

Police arrested Jia in his own home in the city of Jiaohe, less than two hours' drive from the crime scene, after visiting thousands of people for clues.

The man confessed that he took a train to Dunhua to find a target for his gun test on December 16.

Police also found several homemade guns, bullets and hundreds of steel balls in Jia's home.