Xu Chunhe, 45, was shot by a police officer at a railway station in Northeast China's Heilongjiang proince on May 2.(Photo/Sina weibo)
A police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing after shooting and killing a civilian at a railway station in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said the local police department on Thursday.
The police officer, Li Lebin, shot Xu Chunhe on May 2 at the Qing'an County railway station in Heilongjiang.
An internal investigation showed that the shooting was done as part of his duty and Li did not violate protocol, said a statement from the railway police of Harbin, the provincial capital, which conducted the investigation.
Xu, 45, who was traveling with his 81-year-old mother and three children, allegedly initiated the assault on Li and continued the attack despite multiple warnings before the police officer shot him, the statement said.
Xu was confirmed dead after paramedics arrived at the site 25 minutes later.
WHAT LED TO THE SHOOTING
Internal police investigators and prosecutors examined the security tape and interviewed about 60 witnesses, the statement said.
The tape showed Xu, his mother and three children arriving at the railway station on the morning of May 2. Xu bought tickets to Dalian, a city in northeastern Liaoning Province and the whole family went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.
According to the statement, Xu and his family were going to visit relatives in Dalian.
They returned to the station and entered a waiting room around noon.
Xu's mother, Quan Yushun, told the police that he drank a glass of liquor and half bottle of beer at lunch.
An autopsy confirmed that Xu's blood alcohol concentration level was 1.28, much higher than 0.8, the official index for being drunk.
At around 12 p.m., Xu blocked the security check passage with a trolley and shut one of the doors to the waiting room. About 40 passengers were blocked from entering the room.
Officer Li was called by the security guard to the site. Despite Li's warnings and attempts at persuasion, Xu refused to move away from the security passage and tried to stop Li. When Li opened a different door to let passengers in, Xu threw a bottle of water at him.
Somewhere during the struggle, Xu moved to pull out something from his waistband, which alerted Li. The officer pulled out his gun but did not raise it. Confirming no threat shortly afterwards, he put the gun back into the holster.
Observing the situation was growing more volatile, Li returned to his office to fetch a baton and was followed by Xu.
Li then tried to apprehend Xu outside of the police office but was met with violent resistance. After trying to grab the baton, Xu pushed his mother into the officer when she tried to intervene and then shoved his daughter towards the officer, which led to the little girl being knocked to the ground.
"He grabbed the baton and hit the policeman on the head. When the policeman pulled out the gun, he struck his hand. The policeman shouted 'freeze' many times. He just didn't stop," said a witness surnamed Wang.
At around 12:06 p.m. officer Li opened fire.
