China doubles reward for sentry killer

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-13 22:27

China doubles reward for sentry killer
An artist illustration of the gunman is released by local police in Chongqing. [cqnews.net]

CHONGQING - Police in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have doubled the reward to 600,000 yuan (US$88,235) for the gunman who killed a guard outside a People's Liberation Army garrison in downtown Chongqing last month.

Police on Monday said they still do not have any clues as to the identity of the attacker.

The accident occurred at 7:42 p.m. March 19, when the victim, 19-year-old Han Junliang, was on duty at the gate sentry of a garrison belonging to a PLA unit stationed in downtown Chongqing.

The attacker fired two shots at the guard with a rifle before robbing the guard's submachine gun, the police said.

He then ran to a taxi at the side of the Shixin road about 300 meters away from the garrison gate, according to an unidentified witness.

The suspect is described as a man between 18 and 45, 1.70 meters tall with an average-build. A surveillance video showed him wearing a light-colored coat, a wool hat and a pair of dark-colored trousers, carrying a white bag in his left hand. He used a rifle and the serial number of the gun he stole from the guard is 13161360.

Police said the attacker may have been a former soldier or had received military training.

Wang Hongju, mayor of Chongqing who vowed to find the suspect, said the attacker "might have an accomplice".

Police had offered a reward of 300,000 yuan after the assault for information related to the suspect, posting four pictures from the video in streets of downtown Chongqing.