BEIJING - Police shot dead a suspected mentally ill man who threatened to blow up a school in southern China with dynamite, a Chinese newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Beijing Morning Post said the man entered the school last Friday morning with a bag containing about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of dynamite.

"Police negotiated with him for several hours but he refused to leave the school," the newspaper reported.

It said 120 students and teachers were evacuated out of a back door while police negotiated with the man, who was identified by only his surname Zhang.

After several more hours of negotiations "the man was shot and killed by a police sniper," the newspaper reported.

It said the man was suspected of having a mental illness, but did not say what was behind his actions.