Knife-wielding suspect dies after hostage incident

A knife-wielding suspect who took two hostages at a convenience store in Shaoxing's Keqiao District, Zhejiang Province, was shot by police and later died, police said on Tuesday.

Zhejiang police told a press conference that they received a report at 12:47am on December 1 and rushed to the scene where they saw a man, surnamed Sun, holding a knife to the neck of a female customer surnamed Zhang, while another woman, a store employee surnamed Dong, was standing beside them.

The suspect originally demanded ransom of 1 million yuan (US$146,280) in cash, which was reduced to 100,000 yuan after negotiations. He also asked police to prepare a car so he could flee.

However, during the process of the hostage situation, the suspect injured Zhang with the knife on her right thigh, and threatened that further injuries would occur if his requirements were not met.

He also raised the ransom to 200,000 yuan.

When the cash and car were prepared, the suspect forced the two hostages to get into the vehicle and wanted to flee at 3:18am.

To free the hostages, police shot Sun in his left shoulder and apprehended him before he could get in the car.

The suspect was pronounced dead in hospital at 4:30am despite efforts to save his life.

Police said the 24-year-old suspect, a Shaanxi native, had just arrived in Keqiao this October and was unemployed.

Further investigation is underway.