Image of the suspect from the police notice

 

The body of the man suspected of shooting to death seven people from four families in Northeast China's Heilongjiang on Tuesday was found together with the gun on Wednesday. An investigation is under way, local police announced on Thursday. 

Police in Beian city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province previously offered 100,000 yuan ($15,484) in cash as a reward for clues to the whereabouts of the 68-year-old man suspected of committing mass murder on Tuesday. 

The suspect, named Wei Xiaojun, was a resident of Wudalianchi city and had previously lived in Yongyue village of Shiquan town in Beian city, where he was suspected of killing seven people with a gun on Tuesday, according to media reports. 

The seven victims from four families all keep cattle as farm animals and had been in disputes with Wei, media reported. 

Wei had fled into nearby mountains with his gun, and local police were trying to find him. 

According to the notice of the police reward issued by the local public security bureau in Beian on Wednesday, Wei was 167 centimeters tall and had a slim build. He was last seen wearing a green coat and a pair of dark green trousers. 

The large reward soon drew widespread attention from the public on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday, with some locals disclosing that Wei might have suspected the victims of poisoning his 14 cattle to death and was driven into despair. 

Other netizens asked where his gun came from and expected that the fugitive would be promptly caught. 

Global Times