5 killed in China village 'mass shooting'

A Chinese villager armed with a double-barrel hunting gun killed four people, including two police, in northern Hebei province on Tuesday, the local media reported.

The development is a rare outbreak of gun violence in a country where firearms are tightly controlled.

Liu Shuangrui went on the rampage in Xishibao village in Suning County, two hours south of Beijing, killing two fellow villagers and wounding three, local news agency said, citing the police.

Mr. Shuangrui then shot dead two police officers and wounded two, the report said.

Mr. Shuangrui was trapped in his house and found dead when police broke in around dawn, it said, adding the cause of his death was not yet known.

State television had said Liu had been shot.

The media carried pictures of a news release from the government which said the 55-year-old Liu was bipolar.

Gun violence is unusual in China as private gun ownership is restricted.

However, in December, an employee of China’s central bank shot and killed two colleagues at the branch he was working at in the north eastern province of Liaoning.