Police sniper in hostage drama honored

The police sniper who shot a hostage taker dead Tuesday was awarded a medal by Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB) yesterday morning for his conduct during the incident.

Beijing police said yesterday that the hostages, 63-year-old Wang Hua and her 1-year-old grandson, were discharged from Chuiyangliu Hospital, Chaoyang district, after being treated for slight injuries, and have returned home.　

The pair was taken hostage by a still unidentified man at knifepoint on Tuesday afternoon at 5:48 pm near Guangyintang Bridge, East Fifth Ring Road.

Wang was taking her grandson for a walk, and as they neared the bridge, a man suddenly approached and snatched the child from his pram. She tried to take her grandson back, but saw the man was holding a knife to the child's belly, according to the police press release.

"I was so frightened and could hardly move," Wang Hua said.

A witness, surnamed Wang, told the Beijing News that he saw a man in his 20s, naked to the waist, holding a child at knifepoint. The older lady was struggling to get the child back.　

According to photographs taken by other witnesses posted on 163.com, a young man is seen standing in the middle of the road with his two hostages, surrounded by bystanders and brandishing the knife. After police arrive, they establish a cordon. Other photos show the backs of police snipers looking through a window, and finally show the body of the suspect, surrounded by police.

"I talked with the suspect but found he was very manic," said Lin Gang, deputy director of the Chaoyang sub-bureau of the PSB, according to the Legal Mirror.

"He kept claiming he would kill the child," Lin said.

A police statement on Tuesday revealed the decision was taken to shoot the man after negotiations to end the standoff proved fruitless.

The witness Wang said about 6:45 pm, two snipers entered his office which overlooked the street. At around 7 pm, when the man started to wave the knife in front of the child, a sniper shot the man dead, he told the Beijing News.

The child sustained some light scratches to his head, neck and ankles, and his grandmother's hand was slightly hurt, but she was seriously traumatized.

As yet, police have not revealed a motive for his actions, but a waiter in a nearby restaurant said that at around 5 pm, the suspect, who had a fruit knife, bought two bottles of Erguotou, a strong white spirit, the Beijing News reported.