Man kills 5 cops in stabbing spree

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

FIVE police officers have been confirmed dead after a man stormed into a district public security bureau office this morning and stabbed 10 people, Eastday.com reported.

The man reportedly broke into the Zhabei District Public Security Bureau at 578 Tianmu Road M. at about 9:40am and stabbed nine police officers and one security guard, according to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

The 28-year-old man, identified as Yang, confessed that he planned a revenge attack on policemen at the bureau after he was held and questioned last October about a bicycle theft.

Yang, a jobless Beijing native, reportedly tried to set fire to the gates of the bureau first before attacking his victims.

The victims were sent to five hospitals and Yang was apprehended at the scene.

An earlier TV news report said several officers were seriously injured. One witness said many of the wounded were drenched in blood as they were taken to hospital.

"Some of them had been stabbed in the chest. Blood covered their faces," A man surnamed Yi told the TV station.

A police cordon was set up around the building after the attack.

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.