One individual has lost their life due to an alleged shooting incident in Wuhan, China, at an open-air eatery, marking an uncommon instance of gun violence in a country where firearms are strictly regulated.
According to reliable sources, a statement issued by the Wuhan police on Monday reported two additional casualties from Sunday night’s incident, which was purportedly the consequence of a dispute, and was labeled as a case of ‘deliberate injury.’
Social media posts depicting the aftermath of the incident referred to it as a shooting, showing images of one individual slumped in a chair and another lying prone on the ground. The statement from the Qiaokou District police branch in Wuhan remained silent on the type of weapon used in the assault.
China has the most stringent gun control policies, making such instances of gun violence exceedingly rare. Other forms of violence, such as knife attacks or vehicular assaults, are more frequently reported. However, it must be noted that some instances might be concealed due to government censorship, particularly those that paint the nation in a negative light.
Reports indicate that state-run media in China often highlight instances of gun violence in the U.S., seen by many as a strategy to bolster confidence in China’s single-party communist rule over American democracy. This alleged shooting occurred at a location known for its cluster of restaurants serving barbecued meat, popular for their outdoor seating arrangements.
A video documenting the aftermath, now removed from social media platforms, showed a crowd of bystanders at the well-lit crime scene, prior to the arrival of emergency medical workers, who were seen transporting victims away on stretchers.
This development follows earlier reports of a similar incident in 2010, when a man wielding a small automatic weapon killed three judges in a central China court office, before ending his own life. The assailant was reported to have harbored resentment over a court ruling in his divorce proceedings.
Wuhan, an industrial city situated on the Yangtze River in central China, was the first city to experience a major COVID-19 outbreak, leading to a government-enforced lockdown in early 2020.