Violent Shopping
Is it just me, or has the usual Christmas-shopping rush been especially violent this year back at home? First, crazed Wal-Mart shoppers trampled a poor employee to death in suburban New York. Then, two fellows chased each other with guns (result-double fatality) in Palm Desert, California of all places.
Now, even here in Kunming there was a rather stunning incident at the Longquan Lu branch of Carrefour. From the Go Kunming report:
A normal day of shopping at the Longquan Lu Carrefour turned violent Saturday when three women were attacked and a nurse taken hostage by a man wielding a knife. The man was killed by police after a five-hour standoff.
According to Kunming media reports citing police sources Lu Zhiwen (陆志文), 39, had been having problems with his girlfriend. He began attacking customers in the Carrefour outlet with a knife, seriously injuring three women, all of whom later underwent surgery and are described as recovering, with two still in critical condition.
At one point, Lu took one of the injured women hostage, after which a nurse went into Carrefour to treat the hostage. Lu released the hostage, taking the nurse hostage and telling police that he was going to kill her if his girlfriend did not come to the store to see him.
According to the Kunming Public Security Bureau, Lu's strength was fading in the fifth hour of the standoff, and he accepted the police's suggestion that they bring him some hot food. Policemen quickly procured a bowl of soup noodles from a nearby restaurant and placed it in front of one of the Carrefour entrances.
The day's drama ended when Lu opened the door and a police sniper fired one shot, which entered Lu's left temple, killing him instantly. The nurse who had been taken hostage escaped unharmed.
Wow. He sort of fell for the oldest trick in the book, didn't he? I bet the Kunming police are surprised this ruse actually worked. I mean, what an amateur hostage-taking performance. Who gets hungry and goes outside for noodles while holding people hostage in a supermarket?
