Man kills 2 cops in stabbing spree

By Staff Reporters  |   2008-7-1  |     ONLINE EDITION

TWO police officers have been confirmed dead in a Shanghai hospital while three others were in critical condition after a man stormed into a district public security bureau office this morning and stabbed 10 people.

The suspect reportedly broke into Zhabei District Public Security Bureau at 578 Tianmu Road M. with a knife about 9am and stabbed nine police officers and one security guard, according to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Victims were sent to five hospitals.

Two of the four sent to Changzheng Hospital were confirmed dead at 2:40pm, according to Xinmin.com.cn All were treated in an emergency room or in the intensive care unit, an earlier media report said.

The suspect was apprehended at the scene, but it remained unclear who he was and why he attacked the officers.

TV news reported that one or two officers received severe injuries. A witness said the wounded officers were covered in blood when taken to hospital.

``Some of them had stabs in the chest. Blood was all over some of their faces,'' the man surnamed Yi told the TV station.

Police lines were set up around the building after the attack.

Shanghai No. 10 People's Hospital said one officer was admitted at 10am. He was having an operation on his liver. He was also stabbed in the face, the hospital told Shanghai Daily.

Three other hospitals, Beizhan Hospital, Shanghai No. 1 People's Hospital and Zhabei District Central Hospital, refused to talk to Shanghai Daily.

Zhai Jian, a well-known criminal lawyer, told Shanghai Daily that this should be dealt with as a murder case and the suspect may face the death penalty.