A security guard who stabbed a colleague and then took a child hostage was shot to death by police on Tuesday after a six-hour standoff in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
Cheng Zhiyong, 29, was holding 11-year-old Wang Chubin at knifepoint when authorities shot him after negotiations broke down, witnesses said.
Wang suffered cuts on his neck and was treated at a nearby hospital.
The stabbed security guard, whose name was unavailable, remained in critical condition yesterday at an area hospital.
Witnesses said Cheng stabbed his fellow guard at the residential community in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, then fled. In his escape, he encountered a group of primary school students and grabbed a 6-year-old to be his hostage.
Wang, a fourth-grader from Shenzhen Haiwen School, pleaded with Cheng to take him instead, so he did, witnesses said.
Witnesses marveled at the young boy's poise amid the ongoing standoff.
Police acted against Cheng when it appeared he was gripping the boy tighter amid a downpour, officials said.
(China Daily 09/06/2001)
