Tian Mingjian incident

The Tian Mingjian incident was an act of spree killing that occurred on September 20, 1994 in Beijing, China, when a People's Liberation Army officer First Lieutenant Tian Mingjian (Chinese: 田明建) killed and injured several people at his military base in Tongxian County and afterwards drove towards Jianguomen, where he continued his shooting spree and indiscriminately fired at people in the streets. Dozens were killed or wounded, including an Iranian diplomat and his son who was driving nearby, before Lt. Tian was finally shot dead by a police sniper.

Being reprimanded after a quarrel with superiors, because his wife was forced to have an abortion and died, Lt. Tian, 31, armed himself with a type 81 assault rifle and began shooting, killing five soldiers and officers, including the Communist Party political commissar of the camp, and injured at least ten more, before he fled the military base in Tongxian County. While his fellow soldiers were ordered to change into civilian clothing, in order not to disturb the public when they are searching for the deserter, Tian hijacked a jeep and headed towards Beijing. Arriving in Tiananmen Square at 7:20 am, he jumped out, started shooting people at random and riddled a passing bus with bullets. 17 people were killed, among them Iranian diplomat Yousef Mohammadi Pishknari and his son. Dozens were injured on his trail towards Jianguomen, while police desperately tried to apprehend him. Eventually Lt. Tian was besieged at Yabao Road and heavy police fire forced him to flee into a dead end, where he was killed by a sniper.