In cold blood

Information Times
July 3, 2008

Another police officer who was attacked in July 1st's stabbing spree in Shanghai was confirmed dead, which increases the number of fatalities to six. The condition of the other three injured officers and the security guard are not yet clear.

The suspect, a 28-year-old who is identified by the newspaper as Yang Jia (杨佳) is under police's custody now.

On July 1st, around 9:40 a.m, Yang ignited three home-made Molotov cocktails and caused a fire in the police building located in Zhabei district. Taking advantage of the chaos, Yang entered the building and carried out the crime.

It may seem unbelievable that so many officers were attacked in a police station. The newspaper says that all the officers who were attacked were office staff and, according to police regulations, were not armed. In the newspaper article, a policeman named Wang was quoted as saying that the standard training a police officer recieves doesn't explain how to deal with this kind of scenario.

The police at first announced on their website that Yang's motive for the crime was "revenge." When Yang last visited Shanghai in last October, he was accused by local police for buying a stolen bicycle. Yang was later proved to be innocent. Disgruntled by the way he was treated by the policemen, Yang demanded compensation. His demand was denied.

This piece of information was shortly taken down from the website. The explanation provided was the information was told from the suspect's point of view and deemed inappropriate for the website.

A newspaper article provides a brief background description of the suspect: Yang's parents divorced when he was a child and he was brought up by his mother and was still living with her before his arrest. This fact, according to the paper, may explain why none of the victims in the crime were female. Yang had an unsuccessful marriage and had been unemployed. He was described by those who know him personally as amiable, introverted and a law-abiding person. This is the first crime he's ever committed.

This article is from Danwei.org

Read the complete post at http://www.danwei.org/front_page_of_the_day/an_unrestful_time.php