China investigating police shooting of man at train station

Beijing: China's Public Security Ministry is investigating a shooting in which a police officer killed an unarmed traveler in front of his elderly mother and three small children at a train station, the ministry said today.

Rising calls for a full, independent investigation have followed the shooting as the public has become uneasy about the newly granted power for normal Chinese police officers to carry a firearm and has questioned if the police can strictly follow gun laws.

Already, several shootings have occurred where the police use of guns was questioned but was never fully accounted for.

"When authorities fail to provide rational explanations for pulling the trigger and to handle such cases in a fair and just way, police officers will continue to use their guns blindly, raising the risks that social tensions would only one day erupt uncontrollably," said Zhao Chu, a Shanghai-based independent commentator, who says police violence against people can become habitual if it's not adequately checked by law.

In the latest case, local railway police in the northeastern town of Qing'an said the officer pulled the trigger after Xu Chunhe, 45, attacked the policeman and tried to seize his gun.

But a clip of private video circulating online shows the policeman using a long stick to beat Xu, who tried to dodge the blows and then tried to pull the stick away from the policeman. A small child was heard asking the father not to fight but to go home.

Local authorities have refused to release the full surveillance footage of the May 2 shooting.

The ministry confirmed a state media report that it had dispatched a work team to the northeastern town of Qing'an to gather evidence and witness accounts, and said it would release results later.