Cops nab stabbing suspects

Yangpu district police have arrested several suspects in a stabbing that occurred Saturday during a brouhaha over where stalls could be set up at a food market on Changling Road, police said Sunday.

One man died and five other were injured in an armed brawl between a group of vendors and what the police would only describe as "managerial staff," according to the Yangpu Public Security Bureau's microblog. The case remains under investigation.

The conflict began when four staff members got into an argument with some of the vendors who had set up stalls at the entrance of the Yangpu Changling Food Market, police said.

The dispute had been going on for a while and there had been an altercation between two sides the previous day, according to a report Sunday on the news website xinmin.cn.

"The managerial staff members asked them to move because setting up stalls at the entrance is against the rules," said Tang Yuxin, a press officer for the Yangpu Public Security Bureau.

At some point during the argument, a senior citizen came up and starting shoving staff members, the report said. The managerial staff walked away, but the senior continued to shout at them.

It remains unclear why, but after the staff began walking away, the stall vendors fetched wooden baton and chased after managerial staff, the report said.

The managerial staff went back to their van and brought out iron bars to brandish in front of the stall vendors, the report said.

The situation escalated and one managerial staff member ended up getting stabbed in the chest.

The vendors then ran off, escaping into a nearby residential complex. The stabbed managerial staff member died from blood loss as he chased after the vendors, the report said.