Sentry killer must have accomplice - mayor

By Tom Qian  |   2009-3-24  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE mayor of Chongqing Municipality said the masked gunman who shot and killed a sentry outside a People's Liberation Army garrison in the city must have at least one accomplice.

Mayor Wang Hongju and vice mayor Huang Qifan talked to media from Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions and foreign journalists from China Radio International, Chongqing Morning Post reported.

Police have offered a 300,000-yuan (US$44,000) reward for the arrest of the gunman and issued a description of the attacker, who was caught on camera. He is said to be about 1.70 meters tall and was wearing a grey jacket and a black hat. He was also carrying a knife.

The 18-year-old guard, Han Junliang, was shot on Thursday outside the PLA garrison in Chongqing's High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. Han's semi-automatic rifle was taken after the attack.

The municipality is treating the incident as a terrorist attack and has launched a citywide house-to-house search.

The Minister of Public Security, Meng Jianzhu, flew to Chongqing on Saturday to supervise the investigation.