Man goes on killing spree in China, murders six

A 62-year-old employee at a private chemical factory in eastern China has gunned down five people in a rare shooting incident in the country, after pounding one of his colleagues to death following a fight.

The suspect, surnamed Fan, killed four colleagues, a taxi driver and a sentry at a local military compound in China's largest city, Shanghai, yesterday evening.

Four others -- a sentry, a police officer and two of Fan's colleagues -- were injured.
They are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition, local police said.

Chinese police sounded nation wide alert to deal with violent attacks by stray individuals after the attack.

Fan, who is director of the general office of Shanghai Guangyu Fine Chemical Co Ltd had a dispute over a factory equipment transfer with two colleagues surnamed Li and Zhang, respectively.

At first Fan pounded his colleague Zhang to death around at the factory he worked in Shanghai's Baoshan District, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau said on the microblogging site Sina Weibo.

He then took his hunting rifle hidden in his dormitory and asked driver of an taxi to take him to another district. He gunned down the driver on the way and then drove the vehicle back to Baoshan, Hong Kong's The South China Morning Post reported.

Fan then killed a soldier who was guarding the entrance to a nearby barrack and grabbed the soldier's gun. He then returned to the factory and fatally shot three more people with his hunting rifle, including a manager.

Policemen patrolling the factory overpowered Fan about six hours after his killing spree started, and retrieved both guns.

The case is still being investigated.

Following the case, the Ministry of Public Security on Sunday ordered police authorities across the nation to step up security on the streets and make resolute efforts to stop violent crime.