Knife-wielding attacker caught

A disgruntled shopper who knifed two shop assistants over the price of a jar of moisturizer was caught on a train at 8:50 pm Thursday, Huangpu district police said.

Both victims were rushed to Changzheng Hospital in Huangpu district, where doctors treated one for a stab wound to the upper thigh and the other for a cut to the waist, said Guan Jun, a doctor in charge of the hospital's emergency department. Both victims were in stable condition Thursday afternoon.

The attacker entered the store, 61 Street Shopping Center, on Nanjing Road East, in the morning and examined a display of facial moisturizer at the entrance of the store, said a shop assistant who witnessed the incident. He complained that the price, which was 20 yuan ($3.21) a jar, was too high.

"The man said he had seen the same kind of face cream selling for 10 yuan at the City God Temple market, and criticized us for selling it at such a high price," the assistant said.

When the employees suggested that the man buy the moisturizer at the other place, he hurled one of the jars at the store's counter and headed for the door, the assistant said. Before he left, however, he heard the employees refer to him as a "psycho," and stormed back inside.

During the ensuing argument, the man pulled out a knife and attacked the shop assistants. He then fled.

The assistant who was stabbed arrived at the hospital in shock after losing a lot of blood. "We have stopped the bleeding, and he remains under observation in the intensive care unit," Guan told the Global Times.

The other victim was also still being treated Thursday afternoon.

The attacker was still at large around 4 pm Thursday, according to a press officer surnamed Zhu from the Huangpu District Public Security Bureau.

Zhu refused to discuss whether surveillance cameras had caught sight of the attacker. He said police would brief the public about the incident after they had a suspect in custody.

The attacker came to the store with an older couple, the assistant said. However, the couple did not try to stop him from fighting.

The store, which caters to tourists, remained open in the afternoon after the attack. Several customers checked out the facial moisturizer, which remained on display at the front of the store.